Within the Notes of Truth
by MidnightDestiny04
Summary: After moving across town, Shade Katsura meets the infamous Ayumu Narumi, only to find out they are both searching for Kiyotaka. Then she met Eyes Rutherford and his ordeal to her to help keep the Blade Children hidden... Very short chapters, and rated T for minor adult themes and some language.   EyesXOC
1. Prologue

Prologue

The silence of nothing but rain filled Rutherford's ears. The constant tapping of the water slapping the muddy ground, and his broken soul, or at least, as more broken then it already was. The noise of the rain was soft, but it was booming loudly in his pounding head. It was only in a matter of seconds that it all happened, but he still couldn't rewind the moment in his mind without thinking about what he should've done instead of giving into the hidden fear inside him that he thought he buried.

It was early evening in a park, cloudy and gloomy. Rutherford found himself confronted by someone: A girl. She was angry with him, and then there was the fired shot. They were spotted. The two bolted into the woods and tried to stay low as possible.  
After pushing her away and taking a few hits, he hit the ground pretending to be dead. She was fooled, but he reassured her that he was still alive by showing her the bullet-proof vest he had underneath his coat.  
The silence didn't last long as more shots were fired, and their cover was blown.  
The two ran off. Rutherford pushed her back into the wilderness to be hidden. He told her to stay there until she couldn't see him, and then carefully run back home without being seen, whether it was hers of even his apartment it didn't matter really. As long as she was away from what was happening and was safe. That's what only seemed to matter at the time. Trying to argue, she said otherwise but he coldly interrupted her and said, "Just do it!" in a frustrated and flustered tone.  
Off in a flash, he left her there confused and frightened. He knew this was for her safety. It had to be done.  
He led his hunter around in circles, blocks, and through many obstacles of the city, and it was still chasing him relentlessly. He soon reached a dead end. No where to run, but he still tried to climb as fast as he could as he found a nearby ladder. Rooftop to rooftop, he leaped, found the nearest place to hide and left his hunter to search. After it left, Rutherford crept out only to be spotted again. Again the charade continued, only to find that this hunter had called backup. Running from place to place, trying to analyze each and everything these stupid hunters were thinking, he had to keep running for his life or else he'd be killed. But whatever he tried to get away, they were two steps ahead of him whenever he thought he was the one making those two steps ahead. Back to the shrouded woods again, he found himself cornered.  
That's when it happened. The countless shots that she took left Rutherford in a daze. He couldn't believe that the unimaginable had happened right before his eyes. In that instant, he tried to take down the hunter by pure physical force, only to find that she had yet again bended reality. The hunter was shot three times in the back and was finished. She wasted the rest of the bullets on the backup hunters, who were down in less then a minute. She did that while lying there, completely unable to make a single harsh movement, or even stand. She saved his life. She really was a defender that Kiyotaka chose.

Rutherford decided to sit there for a while longer, since no one wouldn't care what he was doing or where he was. So he stayed there holding the mess he had made in his arms. He refused to look down at her motionless body. It would only make him regret even more of the mistake he made. What made it hurt even more was that he could've prevented it all… but it was her decision to confront him about something else he didn't bother thinking about until she mentioned it. But it was also his idea to recruit her as a Defender and allow her in on the secrets of the Blade Children.  
Now, there he was, a pathetic wreck sitting in the rain, gunshot holes in his coat, his sunglasses on the ground covered in mud, and his blue eyes filled with many tears that he held back effortlessly. It soon became harder and harder to keep them back the longer he stayed there.

It seemed to be about an hour, or so he assumed. He decided to just leave and let the proper authorities come to investigate what had happened. Rutherford even called the police, detective office, everything. It wasn't until then he noticed his voice was just a little taut, and shaky. There was no way he could feel this kind of emotion, at least, for someone else whom he had only known for about a year, so he thought. It wasn't like she really meant something to him… was it?

Even then it always looked like she was always with him. She knew the others like him, but there was something different to her. She was unlike any person Rutherford could possibly encounter, and yet at the same time she beat him down to a point where he actually had to think what she was saying.  
She was gone now… and things were going to get harder. A lot harder. It was as if the fate of the Blade Children suddenly became the burden of a lifetime and made the world crash down on Rutherford's shoulders. It was now going to be a lifetime that was just beginning to get much more tedious and difficult than what it used to be.


	2. Chapter 1

1  
Little Narumi

The air smelled crisp as ever in the middle of the autumn. It was usually the same smell that got Shade so exuberant. It was just some of those strange little "things" about her.  
Nothing was really normal about Shade; at least, that's what people thought from knowing her. She's so open-minded to anything that a normal person would be too confused to ever understand her from past experiences (at least, that's how she always described it).  
Shade also looked different, and tried whatever she did to stand out. She hated being the same as everyone else. Shade dressed however she wanted on a daily basis. Such as manipulating shirts into one shoulders and embroidering designs in her old jeans and such. She sometimes even wore gloves and arm warmers with her uniform.  
Her hair was probably her most notable trademark, with a radiant dark red with spikes in the back with long blonde bangs and even a small ponytail in the back. She also has a light Hispanic accent, sometimes trilling her r's and adding a little Spanish in her sentences. It was obvious that she had a little bit of Spanish descent in her by looking at her with her beautiful, naturally tanned skin.

Shade loved everything about autumn. She loved all the pretty colours, the leaves, the sounds of the wind; she loved everything and anything that had to do with autumn. Shade pulled up her scarf and whistled to herself as she strolled down the sidewalk where all the other students were walking and talking with their friends, doing whatever they wanted with the limited freedom they had.  
Shade was now on her way to her new school. She had just recently moved to another house and after finally getting her stuff together, she felt like school was a well deserved break to get that nagging monkey off her back. It was anything to get away from all the boxes and the smell of dust.

After finding her respective classroom, she could finally find a sense of relief knowing she was now somewhere where she can actually focus on things that mattered, instead of coughing and dirtying up dishtowels all day.

"Class, there is a new student joining us for the remainder of the year and many years to come, hopefully." said the teacher. Shade kind of eyed him and analyzed the word, 'hopefully' in his sentence. What could he possibly mean? She had thought. "She has moved to this part of town and had to transfer schools due to job issues. So make sure to make her feel welcome and help her whenever needed, ok?" he finished.  
"Ok…" the classroom replied, in unison and monotone. Shade raised her eyebrows quickly with a bit of a serious look. She gave a small but sarcastic, "Hmph." she sat down at the desk she chosen. She sat beside a girl with light brown hair in braided pigtails to her right. In front of her was a guy with brown spiky hair and a few earrings. For some reason he seemed to look familiar to her, but Shade ignored it. It must've been déjà vu or something. She shrugged it off and stared out the window the remainder of the class.

It wasn't long until lunch came around the corner. Shade stepped out to fetch her bento from the staff room refrigerator. She had some fish in there and she didn't want it to spoil on her. She spent most of the morning unpacking everything that her mother had to stay up the night before to make it and take it with her.

Shade was getting used to the whole "new kid" thing. It was easy for her. All she had to do was not get in anyone's way and she'd be fine. It's not like she would get noticed by someone, or so she thought.  
"Hey! Hello! Yoohoo!" called out a female voice. Shade looked around curiously.  
"Who said that?" she wondered.  
"Hi uh… Um…! You with the dark red hair… with blondish bangs! A-And the small ponytail!" that same voice called again. This time Shade looked around. She knew she pretty much stuck out like a sore thumb with her hair and skin colour, so it wouldn't be too hard finding the person who was calling her. She then saw that pigtailed girl waving at her from within what seemed to be a small room with a table, two chairs and a few computers.  
Shade decided to step in.  
"Uh, yes?" she asked. "Did you call me?"  
"Oh yeah! Come! Sit and eat with us!" she giggled. Shade shrugged her shoulders and just smiled casually. She sat down beside the pigtailed girl and untied her lunch.  
There sitting with them with the spiky-haired boy from before.  
"Oh yummy! Onigiri, takoyaki and of course teriyaki rice with chicken!" she laughed like a glee child. Shade looked at her strange, but she laughed because of her innocence.  
"Don't mind her. She's may seem really weird but she's harmless." he commented rudely.  
"Oh well gee! Thanks a lot Ayumu!" she responded quickly. "And you're so normal with that hair of yours!" The boy shrugged his shoulders and only gave a little, "Hmph." The pigtailed girl cleared her throat and turned to Shade. "Sorry about that. Ayumu's a little cranky when he has something on his mind."  
"Yeah right." Ayumu scoffed.  
"Mm! By the way!" she stopped to wipe her mouth and swallow her food. "I'm Hiyono Yuizaki! President of the school newspaper at your service!"  
"Oh, o-ok." replied Shade, caught off-guard. Hiyono was really loud but she was still very friendly. Shade was still wondering how this boy and this girl could possibly be a match.  
"And this Grumpy McGrouch is Ayumu."  
"Pfft." Ayumu huffed. "Whatever…"  
"Tell me… Are you… THE Ayumu?" Shade suddenly became captivated with his name. Ayumu looked at her again, and then looked around the room.  
"I don't see anyone else with that name." he replied sarcastically.  
"So you're Ayumu Narumi then… am I right?"  
"Yep." he nodded. He picked out a piece of tomato from his bento. "That's my name. Don't wear it out." Shade's eyes widened with Ayumu's answer.  
"So you're the actual Ayumu Narumi… didn't think I'd meet him here."  
"Uh, yeah… Why are you so interested in my name? Or rather, me in general?" he asked.  
"I'm looking for you're brother." Shade stated. Hiyono softly gasped sharply looked at Shade.  
"Really now? Good luck." Shade became confused. It was like Ayumu didn't care.  
"E-Excuse me?" Shade tilted her head.  
"I said, good luck."  
"No, I mean, why would you say that?" Shade asked.  
"Why not? I've been looking for him for two years. I don't even have a lead of where he could possibly be." Ayumu replied.  
"I see…" Her eyes rolled down to the table and then slapped her hand down. "Damn! Right when I thought you'd know." Shade hissed bitterly.  
"Why are you asking? What connection could you have with Kiyotaka?" As Ayumu asked, Hiyono pulled her seat up closer to the table and listened in.  
"He was the head detective of the AB-5 incident." she explained.  
"What?" Ayumu turned, suddenly interested. "AB-5?"  
"Wasn't that case the murder of a lawyer? I heard it on the news a few years back." Hiyono asked.  
"Yes." Shade leaned back in her chair. "Two years to be exact. The AB-5 incident itself was a mystery altogether. No one expected it, and there was barely any evidence to even determine a lead let alone try and find the dirty bastard." Shade breathed in. "Even Kiyotaka was stumped. He searched and searched and finally found something. A lead… or I guess a possibility."  
"What was it?" Hiyono asked.  
"He found a purple iris in the victim's pocket." The second those words came out of Shade's mouth, Ayumu froze in shock. He knew what this meant, and he knew Hiyono knew it too. But there was no way Shade would know the answers to the questions Ayumu had swirling in his head. He decided to keep that a low-profile and ask something else.  
"What does the AB-5 incident have to do with you? The case has been closed and unsolved for years." he remarked. "What makes you think that there's still a chance? Like you said, there was barely any evidence."  
Shade paused and covered her mouth as she leaned over the table. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, and then finally looked up at Ayumu with a spark in her eyes. She looked like she ready to burst into tears. But her voice remained as calm as the words she spoke turned to ice.  
"The lawyer that was murdered in the AB-5... He was my father."


	3. Chapter 2

2  
Silver Hair

"You're father?" Ayumu asked. Shade eyed the table in silence.  
"Yes. 5'7", dark red hair, brown eyes… thirty-eight years old." Hiyono looked at Shade. Her face was full of sorrow. She seemed devastated. "He told me that he was just going to be gone for about twenty minutes that day…" She explained underneath her breath. "He said he'd be right back and promised to go take a walk with me and talk about a few things when he got back… but that didn't happen."  
"So how did the murder go down?" Hiyono asked in curiosity. Shade breathed in calmly.  
"I asked Kiyotaka about my dad a few days after the murder about what happened. From what he told me… Dad was taking a shortcut through the woods of the park. He witnessed a type of explosion that he managed to get away from." Shade continued. "Apparently he was being followed, so he ran. But… that's when it went down from there. He was stabbed: repeatedly in the chest, with a 12 centimetre knife."  
"That's pretty long!" Hiyono gasped.  
"About… like that." Shade showed an example of the length of the blade using her fingers. "That's not even including the handle."  
Hiyono and Ayumu looked at each other with concern. There was something there that had Ayumu worried. He could piece this together with a bit more information.  
The atmosphere started to feel heavy.  
"Were there any witnesses?" Ayumu asked.  
"Well… There was a woman there who had seen a bit of the murder." Shade remarked. "But… something about her testimony was sketchy."  
"How so?"  
"She just gave an idea of what she could have seen, or what looked obvious. She didn't say exactly what she may have seen at the time of the murder." Shade pulled in her chair closer to the table. "I know there was a contradiction somewhere in her explanation. Something she said just made it sound… just, strange."  
Ayumu seemed to be like he was examining every word that Shade had said.  
"I have a feeling she lied. Who says that a knife is only nine centimetres long from a ten foot distance?"  
"Ten feet?" Hiyono asked. "Wait, if she was ten feet away, then she would've had to be at the scene of the murder at the time. The woods aren't really that crowded since there's a clear path through it. And the only way to tell if a knife was nine centimetres long was as if you measured it yourself."  
"Exactly, but how do you possibly prove that it could be it?" Shade asked. "How can you explain yourself in such a random manner to prove your points? There's no evidence." At that moment Ayumu stood up.  
"The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth." he quoted. He looked at Hiyono. "You wanna…?"  
"You got yourself a ticket!" Hiyono quickly got up and switched from her chair to the one in front of the closest computer she found. "Alright. So whatcha need?"  
"An autopsy report." Ayumu stated.  
"But that would mean you'd have to get into the detective case files. There's no way you could possibly-"  
"Ok… AB-5... A… A…" Hiyono was already searching for the case file as Shade quickly took a look at the screen.  
"H-How could-?!"  
"Hiyono's very good with those hacking skills of hers." Ayumu leaned on Hiyono's chair, slightly looking over her shoulder.  
"You got it! I'll do anything for my research and if my research helps Ayumu then I'll do just that!" Hiyono exclaimed. "If I can do this for Ayumu I can do the exact same with you." Shade watched in amazement as Hiyono searched through every file. There was nothing. "Hmm… it seems that the file was erased as soon as the case fell to an unsolved closing." Ayumu's face soon became serious and determined.  
"Check the main database for unsolved cases. There should be a clue in their records bank." Hiyono paused to crack her knuckles.  
"Alright. Get ready to see some magic."  
In a span of minutes Hiyono got into the database, but needed a password for the records bank. "Hmm…"  
Their little research frenzy came to an end when the bell had rung for classes to soon get ready and resume again.  
"Shoot…" Shade said, discouraged.  
"Don't worry about it." Hiyono got up and stretched. "Ah… I'll keep researching until I find something and hopefully hack my way into the records bank."  
"Y-You'd… You'd seriously do that? For me?"  
"Yeah, 'course. You wanna find who really killed your dad, right?" Hiyono patted Shade's shoulder and smiled. "Trust me, with me on your side I'll help you get to the bottom of this with Ayumu's assistance of course." Shade turned to Ayumu.  
"And… You're going to help me too?"  
"Well yeah. Murder's murder. It's a crime that no one can possibly get away from for long." Ayumu rubbed the back of his head, running his fingers through his hair. "Besides, we just may be able to find out more about my brother, too."  
"…Gracias. Mucho Gracias… to the both of you, Señor Narumi, Señorita Yuizaki…" Shade thanked. "I think I can sleep a little better knowing this. I'll try to find whatever information I may have too." She smiled and then paused. She realized that Ayumu and Hiyono didn't even know her name. "My name is Shade Katsura by the way. I… honestly don't know where my manners go whenever I talk about my father."  
"S'ok." Ayumu shrugged his shoulders.  
"Nice to meetcha, Katsura-san." Hiyono responded politely.  
"Please, just call me Shade, Señorita."

The classes went by faster with Shade's confidence all in an uprising. She was going to give Hiyono her cell phone number and also give it to Ayumu. She would need a way to contact the both of them if they found something important or critical. Shade would also feed them whatever information she could to let them know what they can leave out whatever has been collected.  
Shade was going to meet Hiyono in the same room they ate and talked to see if she can dig up anything else.  
"Hmm… this is a hard one… Let's see…" Hiyono furiously typed on the keyboard for an answer. Whatever she tried just wouldn't work. "You're a nasty bugger to crack, ain't ya?"  
"I'll try my hand at it." Shade offered.  
"Hmm? Oh, ok. Sure." Hiyono stepped up and out of Shade's way as Shade dropped down into the chair. "Ok now…" After typing a few more things in for an answer: her father's name, AB-5, incident, iris, and there was still not one thing going right for these two. "Hmm…" Shade typed in one more thing to see if it would make a difference. It didn't. "Shoot…"  
"It's alright. I'll keep trying." Hiyono encouraged. At least she was optimistic enough to lift up Shade's spirits up a bit. It wasn't what Shade had expected but it was something to keep her motivated.  
Hiyono tried some more and still there was nothing. Hiyono really seemed to have her work cut out for her. The charade seemed to go on forever, but finally she had successfully hacked into the system of the Detective Records Bank.  
"Ah-ha! Gotcha!"  
"We finally got in!" Shade smiled.  
"Yep, we did. Now to find the case file…" Hiyono searched, to only find a strange outcome. "What the…? That's strange."  
"What is it?" Shade asked.  
"I can't seem to find the AB-5 case file." Hiyono stated. "They must've erased the case from the system."  
"But that's a mystery in itself." Shade mentioned. "They should still keep cases from five years ago let alone two. How in the world do they not have the AB-5 incident?!"  
"They could've erased to clean out their system memory. There are multiple people who do use their computers in the police station and the detective offices. Too much information and cases can overdrive the RAM and fry the motherboard. There wouldn't be enough space to keep too much information all at once. But it's still strange that they wouldn't have it."  
Shade peered down to her feet. Right when she thought she really had a way to avenge her father… or did she?  
"But there's no worry." Hiyono stretched.  
"Eh? Why's that?"  
"See, Ayumu's sister-in-law just so happens to be a detective." Shade's eyes lit up in hope. "She's currently taking this other newbie detective under her wing. He's not really a great detective and he's not as smart as her. Blackmailing him is basically a walk in the park for me. I can just dig up whatever I can find and hopefully he can find the file somewhere. If not, then I just may have to beat it out of him." Hiyono laughed. Shade soon became a little uneasy knowing how far this girl would go just for the autopsy with blackmail, but then again that wasn't the point. She was finally getting help from people she never knew could. This was the greatest help she could ever get.  
"Well, we should hit the road."  
"Yeah, the school's going to close soon, and I have a gig to go to." Shade agreed. The two grabbed their bags and left the school exchanging goodbyes and walked off their own paths.  
Ayumu had already left about the moment the bell dismissed the students for the day to be over. Something about "getting home right away for chores and homework" which, to Hiyono, seemed awfully strange since he apparently stayed with Hiyono to find more info. Shade wouldn't know. She only knew Ayumu for about 15-20 minutes so she wasn't too sure for his behaviour.

At the corner of a small street near a few buildings about 6 or 7 minutes away from the Shinjuku district stood a small coffee house, which was a lively place for the locals around Shade's neighbourhood to socialize. Shade usually sang and played her guitar there, entertaining with the song meanings, her life, and of course adding comedy. It was just plain local entertainment that everyone loved.  
It was about an hour and the sun was just about to set as the sky turned a bright golden. That's when Shade knew she was done. She packed up her old acoustic in the leather case and departed from the store. On her way out she had bumped into a person. It was a boy with silver hair and very dark sunglasses. He was wearing a long black trench coat and black clothing.  
"Oh. I'm sorry, sir. Excuse me." She bowed and left in a hurry, trying not to seem rude.  
Shade tried to seem anonymous but couldn't help but wonder, "Have I ever seen that boy before?" She tried to think of who he could be, but she was drawing a total blank. It was so simple, but she couldn't seem to see it. Either way, she had to get home in order to find and gather all the information she had on the AB-5 incident. The only thing that left her mind was that the boy's silver hair.

The boy stood there for a while as he watched her leave. He had recognized her in an instant. Not in a nostalgic way, but in a way of emotionless remorse. It was then that he realized he had found the person he was told to bring a terrible fate to; a very permanent fate.  
Such a shame, he thought. She seems to be a nice one too. Oh well… Not my problem.


	4. Chapter 3

3  
The AB-5

Scrambling in her pockets searching for her house keys, Shade managed to make it home safely with plenty of time remaining. With a click of the lock turning, Shade raced inside her trailer and instantly headed for her father's office and searched for whatever her mother could've stored about the AB-5. There seemed to be nothing but the witness's accountable sighting and testimony. She even dug to scrounge up whatever enemies her father might have had in the workplace, but there seemed to be nothing.  
Shade tried whatever came to her mind but there seemed to be not one clue anywhere she looked.  
There was that green safe at the corner of the room.  
She was always told that there was "important grown-up stuff" in there that she wasn't allowed to see or get into as a child. Now she was a teenager, and no longer a little girl. She now understood the circumstances of her father's occupation and the situation that was taking place. If she was able to find the combination, she would be able to get into it and see what files or important papers that were in there. But she doubted her mother would give her the combination. A smirk came upon her face. Shade had an idea. She began to search her father's old briefcase.  
There were tons of papers about past cases he had been a defendant in. Surely there had to be one that was closest to the date of the AB-5, and also find the combination to the safe at the same time. There had to be.

After about 20 minutes of thorough reading and searching, Shade had finally found a paper with Sept. 7th marked near the bottom-right corner. The AB-5 happened Sept. 8th. This had to be the answer to the murder that happened.  
~ "Case: 78-N. Deceased: Manui Hijou. Age: 38. Occupation: Store Owner of Various Camping and Hunting Gear.  
Suspect: Hitotsu Minoru. Age: 37. Occupation: Archery Store Owner.  
Eye Witness: Kikyo Ishida. Age: 32.  
Cause of Death: Multiple knife wounds to the torso and chest. Victim likely survived for about 10 minutes before dying of blood loss. Murder weapon was a common pocket knife measuring about 10cm." ~  
There had to be something else, Shade thought. As she went through more papers in the bag, she found the witness's testimony.  
Shade skimmed through it,  
~"I had seen a small and skinny figure lurking around the warehouse and saw the killer pull out the knife while the victim tried to assault the other in defence." ~  
"Hmm…" Shade referred back to the other paper she was looking at before and read more.  
~"Questioning of another suspect revealed that the witness appeared to have a pocket knife measuring 10cm exactly. Detectives were sent with a warrant to search the witness's house. The witness appeared to be uneasy and showed a very nervous behaviour. Traces of blood on a brown trench coat near the inner pocket and also on a pair of leather gloves were found. Ishida was soon taken into custody." ~  
"Could this…?!" Shade continued to read the report.  
"Witness claimed to be framed by Minoru."  
There was a photo beside the information that was given.  
The man looked a bit rough with a bushy beard, Italian-ish moustache and ragged clothing as if he's lived outside in the woods for a while.  
"Ishida claimed to have seen Minoru at the crime scene after "the deed was done". Minoru claims he has never seen or met the witness and that he owns many knives of various sizes for sale as hunting and camping equipment.  
Detective Kiyotaka Narumi had sent a variety of knives to the forensic and head CSI to be tested for blood stains."  
Kiyotaka…!  
"A few days later, the knives turned out to not have any blood stains. Minoru was called into questioning and also taken (by request of Ishida) a lie detector test. Minoru was found innocent of the crime and had said that he had never seen the knife or the witness before in his life.  
The witness, Kikyo Ishida was taken into questioning again and through many trivial evasiveness and excuses, she had finally come to admitting to the crime due to countless contradictions and holes in her testimonies.  
Her motivation was personal because Hijou "ruined" her life.  
Ishida was charged with 1st degree murder and perjury. She was sent to prison with a time span of 2 years with probation."  
Shade began to wonder about this Ishida person. The things that were said about her appeared strange. It seemed Ishida just acted like a normal person until they finally caught her. But why would she let go as soon as they questioned her the second time?  
Maybe if she could convince Hiyono to research this woman then maybe she could get an answer.  
Shade quickly grabbed the phone and rapidly dialled Hiyono's number.  
"C'mon Señorita… C'mon." Shade whispered underneath her breath. As the dial tone rang in her left ear. Soon afterwards, she heard ambiance and soft static.  
"Moshi moshi?" spoke a light and happy voice.  
"Señorita Yuizaki? It's Shade."  
"Katsura-san! Hey there. What's up?" Hiyono greeted.  
"Hey, listen I need you to research something for me."  
"Oh?" Hiyono listened as she sat at her desk. She booted up her computer. "Whatcha need?"  
"I need you to look up a woman named Kikyo Ishida. She was a witness in a case called 78-N."  
"Mm, ok sure, but why are you looking at that case now? What about the AB-5?" Hiyono asked. Shade took in a breath and began searching her father's briefcase for the combination while she talked. "I'm not sure, but apparently Kiyotaka lead the case a few years back. My dad was the defence lawyer for the main suspect of the case: Hitotsu Minoru. The date of the case papers is exactly 2 years ago. The AB-5 took place a day after the 78-N was solved that same year!"  
"Wow! That's pretty strange."  
"Don't you think that's a bit too consecutive?" Shade asked. "Something like that has to be planned."  
"Yeah, you have a point there. Even Kousuke couldn't do that." Hiyono thought out loud. She gasped. Shade paused to think about what Hiyono accidentally muttered.  
Who the hell was Kousuke?


	5. Chapter 4

4  
The Attempted

Kousuke… That was the name that echoed in Shade's thoughts. It was such a sudden blurt that had Shade confused.  
"Excuse me?" Shade asked. "Kousuke? Who's that?"  
"O-Oh! N-Nothing, nothing!" Hiyono quickly responded. Shade knew Hiyono was hiding something, but she didn't want to pressure her, so she let it slide. "So um, Kikyo Ishida you said?"  
"Y-Yeah."  
"Let's see…" Hiyono began the search. "…Ok… got it!"  
"Wow. That was fast."  
"Thank you." Hiyono giggled. "She was a fugitive for about 6 years. She's been charged with 1st degree murder, thievery, and perjury." Shade whistled.  
"Heavy stuff."  
"She was supposed to be imprisoned for 2 years since the 78-N incident, but she managed to get out a day afterwards in the early morning." Hiyono explained.  
"You know that witness I was telling you about in AB-5?" Shade asked.  
"Yeah?"  
"That's the same Ishida that murdered Manui Hijou, who was the victim in the 78-N."  
"Eh?" Hiyono stopped, becoming confused. This was new to her. "But why isn't she behind bars by now? Wasn't she taken in for questioning since the AB-5?"  
"She was…" Shade sighed. "But she must've learned some new ways to twist someone's words and mind into thinking she can get away with everything. If she was able to hide out for 2 years from when she was supposed to be in jail… then I guess that does it."  
"So do you think she did it?" Hiyono asked.  
"I don't know…" Shade sighed. She tossed the bag away from her after searching it for a while. " It's quite possible that Kikyo wanted to get rid of my dad since he helped Kiyotaka jail her. I'm surprised she didn't go looking for Kiyotaka. I mean, it only makes sense since he was the lead detective who got her involved in the first place. Even now, finding him is a bit harder since he just disappeared in thin air."  
"Yeah." Shade heard crunching on the other line. She must've been snacking on pocky or something. "Then again, if she was looking for Kiyotaka, then why would she go after your dad? I mean, did he look similar to Kiyotaka?"  
"Excuse me! I don't think so!" Shade answered. "My dad's hair was a very, very dark shade of red and Kiyotaka's was brown."  
"Did the AB-5 Incident happen at night?" Hiyono asked. "Sometimes a person can mistake someone else for another if it's dark out."  
"That's true, but it was early evening. Plus my dad's hairstyle was like mine. Spiky in the back and long bangs in the front."  
"Hmm…"  
"And another thing I don't get is the purple iris. I mean… who puts irises in the victim's pocket?"  
Hiyono suddenly became quiet. Hearing the silence on the other line made Shade uneasy.  
"Hmm?" She became a bit confused. Why did Hiyono stop talking? "Uh… hello?"  
"Oh, what?" Hiyono quickly said, startled. "I'm sorry about that Shade. I guess I'm dozing off now. Heheh, but uh, I think my mom is calling me for dinner, so I'll talk to you later and research more about the AB-5 and the 78-N ok?" This was sudden. It was like Hiyono was trying to run away from the conversation. What did she want to avoid talking about?  
"Oh, uh, alright." Shade replied, awkward.  
"Ok, see ya tomorrow at school!" Hiyono hung up very quickly as Shade received the sound of the dial tone before she even had time to reply.

Shade put down the cordless and cleaned up all the papers she messed up. She put them in a file that she marked with an orange highlighter at the top. She stacked all the reports there for future reference and stored them in her father's filing cabinet quickly before her mother found out what she doing, if she was even there yet.  
Shade prepared a small supper and found herself to feel a bit lonely. She sighed glumly. Shade was usually so confident and spunky, but that usually took a while until it came out to it's full potential. She usually didn't mind being alone, but since her father's death it was starting to feel like everything was just falling apart all over again. At times like these, she really wished her father was around. After about an hour, Shade assumed her mother was out looking for a job. She decided to calm her nerves from all the AB-5 and 78-N stuff with a shower and a hot cup of tea. That should do the trick.

Shade came out of the bathroom about a half-hour later feeling very clean and fresh, towel drying her dripping wet medium, layered hair. She was dressed in a comfy tank top and Capri-sweats. She threw the towel in the laundry basket and prepared her favourite tea: apricot green tea. In a cup she mixed in a dash of ginger with a cinnamon stick and just a tiny bit of ground nutmeg. Shade remembered how her father and mother love having honey and milk in their tea. Shade hated honey in her tea. She didn't like the taste of it. Milk was ok but she didn't like that much either. She loved the pure taste of the herbs and spices. It gave her mouth a tingling and pungent taste that she always lived for every time she made herself a cup.  
Her mother however, made much better tea that Shade did. She made it so perfectly, that Shade couldn't understand what made it so good. To Shade, her mother's tea-making was a science. One that she just couldn't perfect.

Shade sat at the table and drank the tea for what seemed to be about an hour when it was really 10 minutes. It was so quiet that Shade nearly went crazy. She could play some music, but the stereo Shade owned was so old that it could barely work since the speakers were shot so bad.  
With the cup in the sink, washed and dried, Shade decided to go to bed.  
It was around 9:32pm by the time she was finished. Shade usually had a habit of going to sleep early. She never really knew why, but it made her feel better that way. It seemed to make her focus more the next day.

As Shade crawled into her warm, cozy bed, she began to wonder what the purple iris meant. Were they a flower of death or something? Usually when someone died, there were left with a red or black rose instead; at least, that's what Shade thought. What did this iris mean? Was there a killer lurking around for 2 years?  
Who knew?  
Shade just decided to let the thought go and clear her mind, drifting into an unconsciousness of slumber.

Hiyono sat there on her bed and felt bad for lying to Shade, but she knew that Ayumu wouldn't be happy if she told her about the Blade Children. The irises were the only clue. Hiyono knew that this Ishida person couldn't have killed Shade's father. It had to be one of the Blade Children. She knew she had to tell Ayumu, fast. So she quickly dialled his cell. The dial tone rang for about 42 seconds. Hiyono was about to hang up when Ayumu's voice suddenly came on the line.  
"Moshi mo-"  
"AYUMU! WHY DIDN'T YOU PICK UP YOUR PHONE?!" Hiyono shouted a bit discouraged.  
"Ow! Hiyono shut up, you're gonna make me deaf." Ayumu groaned.  
"Well excuse me for calling you for an emergency!"  
"What is it?"  
"Shade just called me informing me that her father worked on a case called 78-N and the witness happened to be the murderer in that case!" Hiyono was breathing heavily, in a panic.  
"Yeah, so?"  
"SO, this witness got out of jail a day later. That day was the same day the AB-5 occurred. The 78-N and the AB-5 happened on the same year and month!"  
This made Ayumu concerned. "Who is this witness murderer?" Ayumu asked.  
"Kikyo Ishida. 1st degree murderer, and professional thief." Hiyono caught her breath and continued. "She escaped from prison from the 78-N, got pulled into questioning when the AB-5 happened, and somehow got away from it. The thing is that… I'm beginning to think maybe one of the Blade Children did it, because of the iris left behind."  
"Yeah, that was bugging me too for a while now." Ayumu stated. "I talked to Kousuke and he didn't give me anything. I doubt Rio or Rutherford will have anything to do with it since the media was so hush about it."  
"Ayumu, let's think for a bit. How do we know that her father was involved with the Blade Children? Whether he did or not, why would any of the Blade Children just target him?"  
"I know what you mean, but there is also a chance that his job led him to getting more information about them than the Blade Children bargained for. Even if that's not true there has to be something Shade has that could prove that. If he wasn't involved with the Blade Children, do you think he was researching them?"  
"Maybe, but Shade would've said so if he did or not." Hiyono suddenly gasped. "You don't think-"  
"Could be." Ayumu spoke. "If she's one of them, she could be lying to us in order protect the others from danger. Either that or she's one of their allies that Kiyotaka hired to test me. But still, this Kikyo Ishida sounds suspicious too. She could be framing the Blade Children and probably did it on purpose in order to get Kiyotaka's attention."  
"You think Kiyotaka caught on and dropped the case because of that?" Hiyono asked.  
"I doubt it. Kiyotaka wouldn't drop a case if the Blade Children were involved. Kiyotaka is gone because of the Blade Children. Whatever plan he has, and what they keep secret is something that has to be found out and not asked." Ayumu explained. "Something about the AB-5 really bugs me, and I WILL find out about it."  
"How so?" Hiyono asked again. Ayumu only smirked, only hearing a short "Heh." on the other line.  
"The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth."

It was late in the night, where the sky was clear and the moon shone brightly. Rutherford checked his watch. It was almost 12:42. He had searched where this girl had lived since she had bumped into him that same day. It seemed odd to follow someone like that, but Rutherford had a distinct order to find and eliminate this girl. The reasons for this were somewhat vague, but this was something Rutherford had to do in order to fulfill the duty of a Blade Child.  
This had to be done fast since she was already sleeping.  
He sneaked slowly towards the beat up old trailer that, to him, looked more like a shack than anything else. He peered into the window and seen that girl in her bed, sleeping soft and sound.  
He tried to pull up the window. Of course, as he expected, it was locked. He slipped a thin card through the bottom then used a crowbar to crack the security locks. He slipped in the bedroom like a ninja and did so quietly. He was in.

Rutherford slipped on the bandana around his mouth and the sunglasses over his eyes. He lurked over the bedside of the girl and there was the moment that the rising action and suspense began. He pulled out a small bottle of poison and gently pulled down her jaw. The show was just starting to get into the climax.  
It wasn't until… he seen her face. Her calm face. She was fast sleep and had no knowledge of what was going to happen to her. She has no idea that she was not going to see another sunrise.  
The thought suddenly made his stomach turn. His hand began shaking in hesitation. There was no way Rutherford could be reluctant with something like this. It's not like he's never done it before. Why start now?  
Something told him to stop and think. It was strange. He never experienced anything like this. He couldn't do it. Why was that? He just needed to tip his hand and she was done for. He just couldn't do it for some reason he couldn't even describe. He closed the bottle and sighed.  
"This won't do…" He growled lowly. He figured it was just a fluke. There was no sympathetic bone in his body and he was perfectly comfortable with that. The fact that he wasn't able to kill her shattered his mind with confusion and doubt. What in the world happened to him?  
"…Hrm…!" Shade groaned. Her body rolled and shrugged to the right side of her body. Rutherford soon became anxious. She was waking up! He had to find a way back out without making any noise, but there was no possible way to go. Through the window would take too much time, and since the security locks were loose, they'd rattle while he was getting out.  
The door was no option. Running out would not only make the girl wonder who was awake, and he could get caught if anyone else in the residence awakened at that time or was already still awake. He could only hide somewhere, but where? There was no where to go where she wouldn't notice him. Her room was nothing but open space. Looking around swiftly, he saw a closet. Opening it only to find it was full of shelves and books. At one end had what he assumed to be her clothes. Squeezing through into an empty space that small would be too much of a challenge as it already suggested. He discarded the idea and wondered if he could hide at the foot of the bed. It would be the only place to rely on, but if she was going to wake up, she'd probably notice him too quickly. Even if he was hidden successfully, she would probably notice his silver hair standing out in his all black attire. He then came to the conclusion that he regretted to admit.  
He was stuck.

Shade stretched her arms out and yawned and big yawn and opened her blinking, tired eyes. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, only to find them fully open and see a shadowed figure in front of her. A boy in a trench coat, with silver hair and sunglasses with a bandana around his mouth. She had seen that same silver hair before. It couldn't be…!  
"You…!" She whispered. At that instant Rutherford darted for the door as fast as a rabbit. She was shocked to find him running away from her through the door and not through a window. "W-Wait!" She called out.  
Rutherford managed to jump over a kotatsu table and unlocked the window from the living room. He dived out and landed in a patch of weeds. One of them was full of thorns and cut his face across the cheek. He scrambled quickly and made a run for it on the streets. Shade jumped out and chased after the figure.  
"Come back!" she called. She couldn't help but wonder, "I know I seen hair like his before. I saw him earlier today. What the heck did I do to make him run away? Is he a burglar?" Many questions swirled around Shade's head as she chased after him.  
"Why is this girl chasing me?" Rutherford thought to himself. "I tried to kill her and now she wants me to stop? But why?"  
Rutherford couldn't afford to get caught by her. If Little Narumi or that Yuizaki girl came, it would be all over since they both happened seemed to have perfect timing of the events and dangers of the Blade Children. From how far and hard she was running after him, he saw that she wouldn't give up easily.  
As he was running, he didn't notice the bottle of poison falling out of the inner pocket of his coat. Shade stopped sharply and picked up the bottle. She opened and the scent of a very strong poison lingered her nose. Shade quickly closed the bottle before she passed out, and that's the motive hit her. He was trying to kill her.  
He ran to where there was an intersection. They were almost into downtown. Shade panted hard, "Wait up!" She called out, halfway down the street behind him. Who was this guy?


	6. Chapter 5

5  
Eyes Rutherford

Shade looked up ahead and saw the intersection. To her surprise, she saw how far they were running. He was going to through downtown in hope that she'd lose him.  
He pushed the button and ran across the street just missing inches from being hit by a car.  
"This guy's crazy!" Shade said to herself. "Wait!" Shade got an idea. She thought if she ran around the block, she may be able to cut him off at the next street near the alley. He seemed to be running in a straight line. Shade sharply took a turn towards the right.  
Rutherford looked back only to catch to see Shade's veer to her right down towards another street. "Hm. Clever." He said to himself. He knew her little trick. She was going to try cutting him off thinking that he himself was running in a straight line. Well taking another turn will make her loose track of him and give herself more run for her money. He took a left turn towards a shopping district. "Let's see if she can find me."

Shade continued to run around the block hoping to see him. He wasn't there. She figured if she waited, he'd eventually run past her and then he would be caught.

Rutherford made sure he ran ahead, taking a sharp turn to the right towards a liquor shop and ran through an alleyway. He knew that she would wait for him in the neighbourhood of dark alleys. If he walked through the alley and studied it well enough, he might come to a conclusion that she had ran to another alley and waited there until he ran by.  
Rutherford began to walk very carefully.  
The atmosphere was calm and quiet and kept him at ease. He had searched up and down the whole alley and no one seemed to around the area.  
As he was looking, he suddenly had a feeling someone was watching him. He swiftly turned and found no one. There was suddenly suspicion. He figured maybe it was a cat or something.

Shade hid behind a trash can to conceal the fact that she was following Rutherford around. She was right to wait in the alley, but now he just needed him to lower his guard. This was going to be tricky since he seemed like a very serious person who would be on his guard 24/7.  
Shade took a small peek. He was walking. She sneaked past the trash can and tip-toed behind him, keeping a fair distance as possible so he couldn't see her shadow. Now this was Shade's chance. She walked in close enough and undid the bandana around his mouth. Rutherford quickly turned in a reaction, Shade quickly shoved him away to the side, hitting a brick wall and knocked over the sunglasses he had on.  
Rutherford away from her, backing into the alleyway. She then set her eyes on his true, oceanic blue eyes now revealed. Silver hair, blue eyes… he couldn't be… he had to be…!

"You…!" she gasped. Shade covered her mouth. This was getting to be so wrong and so confusing to her. She wasn't even sure if she should be scared or stunned with shock.  
Rutherford quickly grabbed Shade by the wrist as she suddenly found herself against a brick wall. Rutherford pulled out a pocket-knife. Shade was getting worried, but she wasn't scared enough to panic or cry. She had to get these facts straight and try to remain as calm she possibly could. "You're… You're Eyes Rutherford…" she claimed. "…Right?"  
Rutherford said nothing but narrowed his eyes.  
"A quarter English world renown and first-class pianist introduced into the world of music since the age of 14, and now recognized as a god of the piano, a real prodigy of the ivory keys at only the age 17." Shade explained. Rutherford still said and did nothing but glare at her. "What do you want to do with me?"  
"What should it matter?" Rutherford growled. "You're a target."  
"For what exactly?"  
"That is neither your call nor mine to take. What business do you have with us?"  
"I don't have any business with anyone, and I could just ask that back at you." Shade reasoned.  
"Hn…" Rutherford huffed. "You don't know what kind of danger you could be in. Even now you are clueless. You wouldn't understand."  
"I'm in danger right now. I'm in a dark alley with a celebrity pianist who wants to kill me. Yeah, I understand plenty." Shade snapped. "But the only thing I don't know is… why me?" She asked deliberately. "What's so special about me? Isn't there any other girl around for you to kill? Either way, it would cause a stir." Rutherford stopped.  
"What are you getting at?" Shade looked into his ice-blue eyes and smirked.  
"…HELP!" Shade shouted. "I'M BEING KIDNAPPED!"  
"What th-What are you doing?!" Rutherford became shocked.  
"What do you think? I'm causing a scene, aren't I?"  
"It's useless. There's no way someone could hear you at this time of night." He covered Shade's mouth before she started to scream again. He quickly flicked his hand away from her face, his expression in utter repulsion.  
"Augh! Y-You disgusting little- You licked me!"  
"What? Is the Piano Prodigy scared to get his hands dirty with crime and attempted murder?" Shade chuckled. "HELP! OH PLEASE SOMEONE! I THINK I'M GOING TO GET KILLED!" Shade made a fake scream.  
"You will if you don't keep quiet!"  
"HE'S TAKING ME INTO THE ALLEY! OH, WON'T SOMEONE COME SAVE ME?!"  
"Will you shut up?!" Rutherford became frustrated and swiped a cloth from out of nowhere and gagged her mouth. Shade muffled and struggled to get free.  
"Damn! Wish I knew he had an extra bandana…" Shade thought.  
"Trust me, this is for your own good." Rutherford said coldly "This was a request from Kiyotaka."  
Shade suddenly stopped.  
"K-Kio…yaka?" Shade asked muffled. Rutherford nodded. Shade thought for a while. Now she had to find a way to escape. Shade kicked Rutherford in his right shin and made him back away as the she spat out the cloth.  
"What does Kiyotaka want with me?"  
"Agh… He told me you were a threat from setting us free." He explained.  
"We? Who's we?" Shade asked. Rutherford kept quiet. Shade grabbed his shirt. "Tell me! I must know what Kiyotaka is planning! I NEED to find him!" Rutherford still didn't say anything. "Tell me! NOW!"  
"Don't waste your breath." Rutherford shooed her hands away from his shirt. Even though it looked like he did so gently, Shade felt a hard slap on her hands. "It's not like I know exactly where Kiyotaka is. Even if I did, what makes you think I could ever tell someone like you?"  
"It's because you're scared!" Shade claimed. "I see it… There's a fear deep inside you, isn't there?" Rutherford sharply looked at her with a maddening, determined look on his face. What was she saying? "I can see it. I can see a hidden fear inside your eyes, Rutherford. That must be why you wear sunglasses all the time and never face the paparazzi. You don't ever face the stage unless it is the beginning or the end of the show. You don't want people to see the fear inside. Is that it?"  
"…Hn… Don't be stupid." Rutherford stated simply and turned his head away from her. "Facing paparazzi is something I do everyday of my life. I've gotten used to ignoring them by now, and I don't face the stage because my eyes are fixed to the piano keys."  
"Don't screw with me. Just now you barely looked at me in the eye when you said that. While the reason you gave me may be true, you don't want to admit that you have a weakness! Admitting would only make you believe that you are weak!" Shade exclaimed. "I want to know how you know Kiyotaka! Even if you don't know where he is, can you at least tell me what he is doing or planning?! I MUST KNOW!" Shade's voice escalated from loud to even louder during her sentence, making Rutherford even more frustrated.  
"You are a bother to deal with, do you realize that yet?" Rutherford glared. Shade clenched her fists. "Not only that but you're a loudmouth."  
"At least I can keep my end of a conversation. I mean, WHY THE HELL SHOULD I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS CRAP! THERE'S NO WAY I'LL LET YOU GET ME DEAD! Kiyotaka's word or not, I'm going to live to see the day until I see Kiyotaka. And when I do… When I do… I'LL MAKE HIM PAY FOR WHAT HE DID TO ME! I'LL MAKE HIM SUFFER FOR NOT ENDING OFF THE AB-5 INCIDENT! HE'S GONNA DIE BECAUSE HE DIDN'T CATCH THE GUY WHO KILLED MY DAD!"  
Rutherford went into a state of shock. She did know Kiyotaka after all. Still, there was no way she would know anything about where he originated. The Blade Children was an everlasting secret she wouldn't get to know… at least not yet. Rutherford walked and picked up his sunglasses and the bandana he dropped earlier, and stuffed them both in his pocket of his trench coat. He turned and began walking towards the lights of the downtown districts.  
"I won't kill you…" he managed to say.  
"W-What? But… I thought that was what you were ordered to do?" Shade wondered.  
"Order and request are two different things." he compared. "Kiyotaka never gives an order. Just be thankful I let you go."  
Shade stood there, still shocked by what has happened. Shade still couldn't believe she had met Eyes Rutherford, the modern piano god of the century. She still had to replay some of the moments back in order to resemble it all in her head, event by event. She still had something to ask.  
"R-Rutherford!" She called out. Rutherford stopped. "Does… Does this mean you're going to come after me again?"  
"…It's not my call to say so…"  
"Then whose call is it? Kiyotaka's?'  
"…That is something I wouldn't tell you in a thousand years." He replied coldly. Shade walked slowly closer towards him.  
"Then what? Why do so anyway if you don't know?" She asked.  
"I could be asked to go after you again. Just make your peace with whatever higher being you believe in and enjoy with what life you have now…" Rutherford took a few steps forward. "Just be sure to let yourself know what kind of fate you'll fall under." Shade was quiet for a while. "Is that all? If so I shall be leaving…"  
"…There's… one more thing." Shade said weakly, suddenly feeling relieved and tired.  
"What is it?" Rutherford asked, irritated. He was getting annoyed with these questions she was constantly asking.  
"This whole thing… What was the point?" she shook her head. She walked towards Rutherford, his back still turned to her. "What kind of sick reward will you end up winning in the end? I'll be dead and you'll go on as if nothing happened… What then?" Rutherford veered his eyes towards his right.  
"What does it solve?" Shade asked. "I know if I killed anyone, it obviously wouldn't be good for me. Even if it was someone I truly hated, there would be no way to erase any bloodshed or any of the sin I had stained on my hands." Shade was so close to Rutherford that she could smell a light and expensive cologne or body spray on him. She stopped and stared at the back of his head, tempted to touch his hair.  
"You won't get any merits by killing me. Even if it does win you a type of reward or even maybe a kind of freedom… you're willing to kill me off for some sick little 'request' from Kiyotaka?" she peered down at the sidewalk. "That's just… It's just wrong. Kiyotaka was never that kind of a man… At least, from all I knew and what I've heard… He was never like that… was he?"


	7. Chapter 6

6  
Stand Your Ground

The two teens stood there, exhausted and quiet.  
Rutherford could only think through this as careful as he could. There was no way he could tell her about the Blade Children, even if she knew Kiyotaka or even Little Narumi or not. He couldn't bear to get the Blade Children in danger. He was desperate to be saved. The thing was that he knew she had a point.  
"…Save all that angst and that monologue for a love story or something." Rutherford coldly replied. "Either way, there will be a day where I will have no choice but to go after you again. Until then, just enjoy what you have left. Let yourself know that your fate is not a destined one by choice."  
"I don't care!" Shade blurted. "I don't care if I die… I don't care how I die either. I mean, of course… My mother would sure be devastated… it wouldn't be all the good. She'd never find a way to cope with just herself. But… I'll let her know somehow that I'll be ok. I'll be in a better place by then… because I'll be with my dad." Shade said grimly. "If I were you Rutherford… I'd finish myself off right now."  
Shade backed up and extended her arms out. Rutherford sharply turned to her again. What was she saying? She wasn't scared to die? What was wrong with her?  
"What will it be?" She questioned again. "Poison? A knife? A gun? Cutting my air supply? Whatever you choose I am ready. I don't care how painful it is." Shade stood there with a determined look on her face. She knew what she was doing was risky, but whatever Rutherford decided, it was all up to him.  
Rutherford walked up to Shade. She closed her eyes getting ready for the worst. That only thing Rutherford did was pat her shoulder. Shade opened her eyes and looked at him oddly.  
"You are one stupid, stupid little girl…"  
"Stupid… or afraid?" She suggested looking up at Rutherford in the eyes with fire. Rutherford tilted his head, and turned around again.  
"You are really not afraid to die…" Rutherford mentioned.  
"Says Mr. Obvious." Shade snapped. There was a small pause.  
"Guess I'll have to finish you off then. Glad you came to your senses." Rutherford snapped.  
"Yeah, I guess so…" Shade then smiled a very confident grin. "But I'm afraid you are in my little spider web now."

"What?!" Rutherford turned as Shade pulled out her cell phone. It was on a recording system. It was on the entire time Shade was against the wall being threatened by Rutherford. "You rat!"  
"Tell me everything about Kiyotaka, and this secret you're trying to hide from me! Now!"  
"How long was that on?" He demanded.  
"Since you shoved me against the wall over there, pretty Eyes."  
"Are you insane?!" He snapped. "You can't possibly-"  
"Oh but I think I can Rutherford." she smiled. "You see, there is this girl with pigtailed braids at the new school that I just transferred to. She's a very talented hacker and is also my school's newspaper president. I don't think you'd like it if all of this got confirmed into the press, now would you?" Rutherford growled. She was talking about Yuizaki. If she knew that weird Yuizaki girl, so this had to mean she knew little Narumi too! This was blackmail. She was good, he would admit to that, but she was also an amateur and an evil brat.  
Shade snickered.  
"What's the matter? Cat caught your tongue?"  
"…I won't tell you everything about Kiyotaka… yet." He responded.  
"Hmm?" Shade put away the cell phone. "What do you mean?"  
"Let's settle this like professionals." he stood up straight and stepped forward. Shade suddenly got suspicious. Was this a way for him to get out of her blackmailing plan?  
"In what way exactly?" Shade interrogated. "What are you suggesting we do?"  
"Follow me."

Rutherford led Shade into the darkest parts of an alley and through there he made a shortcut through a park that was close to downtown Tokyo. Shade soon began to smell salt in the air. This only meant they were near the water. They had arrived soon after to a colony of abandoned warehouses.  
"Here…" He mentioned. He slid a door open, enough for both of them to squeeze through.

Now inside the faded green house, Rutherford switched on the fluorescent lights. He led her to a rickety old table, for where he just found out of nowhere with 2 chairs. This was started to feel uncomfortably strange and familiar to Shade, as if she knew one day she would get into something like this unintentionally.

From there, Rutherford pulled out a revolver from his coat, which he removed to reveal his usual all black ensemble. It seemed to be one with 6 slots in the chamber.  
"Ever heard of Russian Roulette?" He sneered. Shade's eyes widened. This guy was nuts!  
"…You're kidding."  
"I'm never kidding." Rutherford stared Shade in the eye as a chill was sent down her spine. How could he come up with something like this so quickly? Was this a setup? Did he plan this ahead of time? Whatever it was, Shade had no choice but to play along.  
"…Ok fine… I'm in." She submitted.  
"You're getting more surprising the more we go on." His English accent was starting to show. "The gun only has one bullet in it. Whoever gets the bullet is the loser."  
"What's the point of that? One of us will be dead and gone. How are we supposed to determine if I leak the information to the press or if you get to go scot-free?"  
"Simple. We'll just point the gun at the places where we would only bleed from." he explained. "It loses the touch of Russian Roulette since you're supposed to shoot yourself in the head, but you never know which one could be the unlucky one." He crossed his arms and sat back. "We will only point the gun at our shoulders, arms, or legs. No matter if either one of us gets the bullet, medical care and finances will be provided by me. If I get the bullet, then fire away with the media you have collected and I'll tell you everything about Kiyotaka. If you get the bullet, then you'll let me go free and you'll be targeted by someone else another day in the next few weeks. I don't want my face getting into the wrong kind of public."  
"It kinda already is with this stunt." Shade reasoned. Rutherford narrowed his eyes and shrugged.  
"…What's the difference?"

Shade looked down at the gun attentively. She sat back and let this flow as smooth as possible, and tried to organize all her thoughts to make them as clear as she could in her mind. There was one thing she didn't understand. Why would Rutherford supply the medical care? Sure he was rich, that she knew, but why would he pay for her expenses under his belt if she got the bullet in her leg or her arm?  
She decided not to ask. Instead, she just made one statement, and one statement only as she stared at the gun, then at Rutherford.  
"Who gets to go first?"


	8. Chapter 7

7  
English Roulette

Rutherford pulled out a small die. "If I roll an odd number, I go second, if even it'll be otherwise. We will use this to determine who pulls the trigger." Rutherford paused. "Before I roll… Are you still sure you want to do this?"  
"Huh?"  
"I said-"  
"I heard what you said, but I'm wondering… why are you giving me a chance to leave?"  
"You'd rather not?"  
"Just answer the question, pretty boy." she snapped. Rutherford didn't tolerate being called something he didn't like to be called other than his name, but for some reason he let it slide since it was a long night. A night that was about to get longer.  
"You're still very young. You have a life ahead of you. This will be the only chance you can bail out of this mess."  
"Why would you care about me?" Shade spoke in a low voice. "I'm just a fifteen-year-old commoner you met about an hour ago. I'm from a low-class of society with nothing but my mother, my guitar, and my sewing machine. Why would you let me go?"  
"I may be cold, but I'm not completely heartless." he replied. "It's not like I'm willing to get you killed right away. There's no rush really."  
"Hmph…" Shade huffed. "Fine…Let's roll."

Rutherford flipped the die in his fingers and watched it hit the table. The number rolled was a six.  
"Well well… I guess I lose. I get to go first." He slapped his hand on the gun and pointed straight at his shoulder. He sharply pulled the trigger as Shade got ready to hear a loud bang.  
There was nothing.  
"Guess I was lucky." he claimed. He tossed Shade the die. "Your turn." Shade took the die and cupped in in both her hands. In a small opening, she blew on it for good luck. She rattled the plastic die and lightly tossed it on the table. It rolled a two.  
"My, my. Lady Luck has backstabbed me hasn't she?" He took the gun again and aimed at his thigh. Again he pulled the trigger and there was no sound. He looked at the gun again. "Hunh. On second thought, forget what I said."

The charade continued three more times as Rutherford kept getting chosen by the die.  
Something was suspiciously wrong. There's no way a die would roll that many even numbers in four tries alone, and the gun… why didn't the bullet go already? Rutherford didn't shoot the bullet in all the times he's tried when he pulled the trigger. That only meant that it was in the very last slot of the chamber. This would mean either Rutherford would get the bullet and Shade would be home free or Shade was doomed to a heck of a lot of blood loss.  
It was now her turn to roll the die. Her hand shook.  
"Hesitating?" Rutherford wondered.  
"As if! Just… It's getting a little cold."  
"Must be your blood system slowing down." He suggested. "Or just cold sweat from all the anxiety."  
"Oh shut up!" she snapped. "Let's end this once and for all."  
She cupped the die again and blew on it again. This time she didn't rattle the die right away after doing so. She closed her eyes. "This is for you Papá… forgive me please…" she prayed. Shade rattled the die in her hand and tossed it. Shade was hoping for a two, four, or six. This would be her only chance to finally get the dirt on Kiyotaka that was in Rutherford's possession.

"It's a three." Shade stated.  
"Hunh. The sixth slot. Too bad." he stated as he flicked his hair back. Shade knew there was something up. In order to get his attention to how serious she was, she picked up the gun and pointed it at her head. This was all for the sake of her father. She was going to do it, and she knew Rutherford was not going to stop her.  
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.  
Well, Shade couldn't predict the future after all, but what difference would that make? They both knew exactly what she was going to do.


	9. Chapter 8

8  
Lights

Shade knew it was crazy, and knew all the consequences following it if she dared to try what she was planning to try. She knew she was going to risk it all. She was willing to give it all up: everything she ever worked for seemed to be just a waste to her, and maybe even a tactic of hopeless stupidity. She was walking the tightrope of life and death. Shade knew very well she was about to jump off into the brink of sacrifice, and she wasn't even a bit afraid to do it.  
Even if the AB-5 never got solved, she had faith and trust in Ayumu and Hiyono to do so for her, even though she felt bad putting all that work on their laps.  
Still… she knew it was the only way to get Rutherford's attention about all the sacrifices she was about to face.  
"What do you think I'm doing?" She snapped back shortly after Rutherford's questioned her. "I'm pointing the gun at my head."  
"So you're really ready for death? Do you honestly think so?"  
"Yes, yes, yes! I already told you, I don't care!" she shouted. "I am willing to give everything up as long as the AB-5 will eventually be solved and the guy who did it will be sent to prison. I don't care who!" Shade paused as her hand holding the gun began to shiver. "…But right now… all I really want to see is my dad… my wonderful, wonderful Papá…"

"I see…" were the only words that came out Rutherford's mouth. He couldn't argue with it. It would only give Rutherford another thing to add on his 'Things Not To Worry About' list.  
The only thing he was concerned was the outcome.  
He was testing her wit, courage, and luck… Just like Little Narumi. Only she gambled to the extreme, that she was now going to throw it all away.

"Well, here goes…" Shade got the gun ready to shoot the last bullet. Before she did, she stopped and looked straight at Rutherford, in his cold, icy blue eyes. "And…" She sighed. "I'm sorry that it really had to end up like this. I wish I got you to autograph my CD for me… I guess in the afterlife I'll know that I got to meet you." Shade gave a weak, but sad smile. "My dad would probably think it would be so cool to meet a celebrity. You… You really were my icon. But I guess you hear that from every girl you meet… Oh well… Sayonara, and adiós Eyes Rutherford."  
Silence over came the small shack as the quietness faded quick. She pulled the trigger.  
BANG!

Shade suddenly seen a bright, blinding, and fluorescent light as a sharp pain of the impact burnt her forehead. Before long, she found she was on the floor moaning in pain. Holding her head, she began believing she was bleeding and/or dying. She had either seen the light of heaven or her vision suddenly blurring while she was staring at the lights. Her vision was so disoriented that Shade was starting to feel sick just trying to stay up in her chair. Everything went black from there.

For about a minute she believed she was dead, or thought she was, and for another she began moving again. She removed her hand. She saw blood…  
She became scared.  
Shade was extremely afraid of blood. It didn't matter what or whom it belonged to, she hated the sight of the crimson substance she was cursed to share among the human race. Even her own blood scared her. Whatever the circumstance, she was afraid of any kind of blood, no matter how little.  
But somehow, her "blood" didn't feel realistic. Shade knew for a fact that blood didn't feel like water.

"Wh-What?!" She scrambled up quickly and looked around. She was still in the warehouse, but the lights were turned off. The revolver and the die were still on the table, but Rutherford…  
"Rutherford?" she called out. "Rutherford? Rutherford! Where are you?" She stood up slowly and patted her body to see if she was alive. She seemed to find everything where it was before.  
Her arms were stinging with a nagging pain. She knew she was bleeding but didn't even bother noticing the pain since looking at her arms would make them hurt more, and seeing the blood would scare her more than she already was.

She suddenly became completely hell-bent to find Rutherford. She looked around where they did the gun challenge and the surrounding area. He was no where to be found.  
Shade walked over to the table and opened the chamber of the gun. All six slots were empty. She even looked at the die and examined it carefully. It turns out that five of the sides were all even numbers. There was only one odd number, the three. On the sides of the even numbers, they were hard an shiny compared to the three. It wasn't until Shade looked under the table that she discovered there was a magnet.  
"That damned celebrity rat!" she cursed. She threw a chair at a wall and flipped the table to its top. She even kicked the other chair repeatedly so that it was across the room.

She was still in her tank top and Capri-sweats, so she was very cold and wondering where Rutherford had gone to. Confused, angry, cold, and hungry she stood there still searching for Rutherford.  
"Where the hell is he?" She growled to herself. "He tricked me. He did it so he can get away… And that was my only lead to Kiyotaka…" Shade fell to her knees. "I was so close to solving the AB-5... Now I'm back to where I started… Why?" Shade laid down and curled up in a ball and cried herself to sleep, only thinking these words,  
"How could I be such a fool?"


	10. Chapter 9

9  
The Meet

Shade woke up to find herself at a hospital as weird as it seemed. It turns out that her arms were cut, which explained the nagging pain she had felt at four AM. Apparently she also hit her head, which she knew, was actually the fake bullet. The cuts were so incredibly deep that her muscles nearly tore. "That damned Rutherford," Shade thought. "It's bad enough the die had five of the sides to be even numbers rigged with a magnet and only have one side to be an odd number, but the bullet in the gun was a fake one that not only made a loud sound and a flash, but they squirted fake blood when hit with a hard surface. What a jerk!"  
Her mother came in and seen her awake and ran to her.  
"SHADE!" She cried. She ran to her and hugged her. "Oh Shade! My Sha-chan! I honestly thought that you were robbed! Kidnapped!" she held Shade close to her.  
"I… ran into some trouble…"  
"What the hell were you doing out in the middle of the night anyway?!" her mother demanded. "You know very well that it's not safe around where we live."  
"Mom, you don't get it! I was set up!" Shade couldn't say anything about Rutherford. She'd never believe her if she said a piano star would ever have any business with her.  
"…Was it that gang again…?"  
"…Yeah…" Shade lied.  
There was a certain gang that often messed around with Shade back where they used to live, always scavenging and using her for a financial income. Sometimes they would leave her stranded somewhere if she didn't provide for them. She left the group because of these reasons and even attempted to blackmail them, but nothing seemed to work for her. The worst part was that they often left Shade in a few bruises, so Shade often had to fake the incident to make it seem like she fell off a hill or tripped on the sidewalk.  
Last time she heard of them, some members moved to different countries since their parents took them away from the "rough" lifestyle they were living. Shade never told her mother about their absence since then. She often used their existence as an excuse for any trouble or times like this, for instance.

"Those darn rats. I'll get them dealt with."  
"No mom… I'll ask for a rematch or bribe them with something. They're not all that hard to figure out."  
"Did they steal something from you?" She asked.  
"No, mom. I wasn't carrying money with me."  
"Ok, I sure hope not." Her mother hugged Shade again. "Oh, honey. I'm just glad you're safe my niña."  
"Me too, Mama."

Shade held her mother for a long time before she let go and wiped her eyes. Shade hated seeing her mother stressed or worried, and because of that, she often blamed herself. It wasn't really that recent she saw her mother cry or angry. She tried to be happy as much as she could, even when Shade wasn't in the greatest mood of all. That's one thing Shade really envied about others. She could never be happy and then just drop her problems like it was nothing.  
Her mother left to go get her food and also drive to get her CD, even though she currently hated Rutherford for what he did.

It wasn't long after her mother left that a familiar duo came in to see her.  
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty's awake now." Ayumu joked.  
"Señor Narumi! Señorita Yuizaki!"  
"Hiiiiii!" Hiyono sang. Even with Hiyono around, Shade felt a bit better now that the atmosphere was lightened up a bit.  
"What are you doing here, amigos?" she requested.  
"Heard about the incident and thought we'd stop by." Ayumu replied.  
"Wow, Shade, it's only been a day and you're already targeted by enemies." Hiyono said. "That must be hard for you."  
"Unfortunately, yes." Shade sighed.  
"So what happened?" Ayumu asked. Shade debated whether or not to tell Hiyono and Ayumu about the situation. She thought it over that maybe they wouldn't believe she actually met THE Eyes Rutherford who attempted to kill her twice in one night. But who else would she have to tell… Ayumu is Kiyotaka's brother and Shade ended up getting Hiyono involved because of what she had said to blackmail Rutherford about her cell phone.  
Well, worth a shot I guess… she thought.  
"I'll tell you what happened." Shade said. "But you have to believe me in every word I say, ok? This might sound a bit crazy to a normal person…"  
"Alright." Ayumu replied.

Shade summarized and explained how Rutherford broke into her bedroom when she woke up, and also the chase scene from her house to the downtown outskirts.  
"It wasn't until I sneaked up behind him and undid his bandana and pushed his sunglasses off that… that…"  
"That… what?" Hiyono asked.  
"Who is this guy?" Ayumu questioned quickly.  
"…Please believe me when I say so… The guy who attempted to kill me… His name is Eyes Rutherford."  
Ayumu's eyes became wide. His face turned serious. It seemed like he knew Rutherford. They believed her.  
"You know him, right?"  
"Of course." Ayumu answered.  
"So… You believe me?!"  
"Completely." Hiyono jumped in. "So then what happened, then?"  
Shade then explained all that happened in the streets and the green warehouse, then the rigged gun and die, and how she fell into an unconsciousness of her own mental assumption only to find that Rutherford left her for dead.  
"…And when I woke up, he was gone."  
"Rutherford really went too far this t-" Ayumu quickly covered Hiyono's mouth quickly.  
"Don't mind her, she really likes to daydream, she's a bit crazy, y'know?" Ayumu lied innocently.  
"Uh…" Shade blinked, obviously not believing so. Hiyono got loose of Ayumu's grip and glared at him, then spotted her end table. "Hey, someone left you a cup of strawberry gelato."  
"Eh?" Shade looked sharply. "It seems like it was just recently. That was nice of them." Shade picked it up and began eating it. "I'll have to pay that person back if I find him." she swallowed.  
"Hmm? There's a note on the bottom of the dish." Hiyono stated and pointed. Shade stopped and checked the bottom. She was right. Shade ripped the tape and read the small note.

"78th Ave. East. Penthouse #7  
10th floor at the Palace of Pent. (Silver Skyscraper)

Meet me in my apartment after you get out of the hospital.

~Eyes Rutherford"

Shade nearly choked on her strawberry gelato after reading the note. Rutherford wanted to meet her after what he's done to her? What the heck was going on?  
"What was it?" Ayumu took the note from her.  
"Rutherford he… He wants me to go to his penthouse after what he did to me?!" Shade exclaimed. "This is bull! It's like nothing ever happened! What a douche bag!"  
"Yeah… this is kinda unusual." Hiyono claimed as she re-read the note.  
"What do you mean?"  
"He doesn't invite many people to his penthouse. So this is a first"  
"Yeah, your point?"  
"He's a loner. He doesn't have a wide circle."  
"I expected that much." Shade snapped as she kicked the hospital sheets away. "I can see why, too. The guy's a complete jerk." Blood leaked through her bandages a bit, but she ignored it. "Ow, I think they reopened." Shade kept on walking.  
"Are you going to go?"  
"Of course! I gotta make him pay for what he did!" Shade slammed down the gelato dish and marched out the door, not caring that she was still in her comfy tank top and Capri-sweats.  
"Shade! You need someone to go with you." Hiyono called out. "You don't know what Rutherford's going to do!"  
"Thanks, but no thanks. I think I can handle him myself. Rutherford is my problem right now. I don't need help with this." Shade jogged down the hall to the exit door. "Tell my mother I went out for a walk and don't know when I'll get back."  
"But-!" Ayumu stopped Hiyono from giving chase.  
"She's right. Just let her solve this on her own. We have to go get Asazuki to talk more about this AB-5 stuff."

After taking the elevator a few floors up, Shade found herself at an amazing building with tons of celebrity luxury things: Furniture, rugs, wallpaper, decorations, everything looked expensive. It didn't really catch her attention since her sight was only in a bright red tint. She marched down the hall until she found penthouse #7, and loudly slammed her hand against the door as hard as she could.  
Rutherford answered, "Hello." In his usual mysterious voice.  
"Bastard…!" Shade whispered and threw a punch. Rutherford dodged and blocked it with his hand.  
"Now is that any way to greet the master of the house?"  
Shade stormed in, but still oddly enough took off her shoes. Rutherford closed the door and locked it. She was going to be here for a while.  
"What the hell was that all about, Rutherford?" Shade asked. "The rigged die, the bullet, slicing my arms, what the hell is wrong with you?!" She demanded. Rutherford gave her a look.  
"In my defence, the last one I didn't do." Rutherford claimed.  
"Oh bull! Like I'll believe that!" Shade shouted. Rutherford smirked. "Don't give me that." Shade lipped. "What kind of sick freak does that?!"  
"In the end we are all 'sick freaks'. Wouldn't you agree?" Rutherford pointed out. "Not even the nicest person in the world is that pure."  
"Sure, but no one in the world will ever be as sick as you."  
Rutherford gave her a thoughtful but meaningful look. "You look angry."  
"Gee you think?"


	11. Chapter 10

10  
Changes

Shade paced Rutherford's living room for a while until she finally decided to slump onto his leather couch. "You do realize how much I really hate you right now, do you?"  
"I think I can come up with a few things."  
"The whole thing was rigged! What was that supposed to do?! What was the point?!"  
"…You won that round."  
"W-What?!" Shade became even more confused. This guy was just not getting into Shade's mind clearly enough to understand him let alone what he was thinking. "What do you mean I won? I ended up getting temporarily blinded, a burn to my forehead from the impact of the gun and some fake blood spattered onto me."  
"I was testing you. I wanted to see how far you'd go, and your actions were far from my expectations." Shade narrowed her eyes.  
"Alright, fine. I'll play along. What is it you want to talk to me about?"  
Rutherford came to her on the couch, leaning over her. Shade smelled that nice, expensive-smelling cologne again. From what he was wearing, it looked like he didn't bother to change his clothes yet. She didn't blame him since their little "incident" last night ended up eating away about four, possibly five hours of Shade's well-deserved beauty sleep.  
"In regards to your performance you showed excellent courage as you stated to sacrifice everything and stuck to it. Your wit and wisdom shows me that while it took you a bit of time to figure everything out, you still had a strange feeling about it all, am I right? Therefore it shows that you're good at being on your guard. Furthermore, you were consistently being observant and perceptive of what was happening. You had excellent timing because of it. As for luck," Rutherford paused and smirked. "Well, let's just say that you're lucky that the bullet I used was fake."  
Shade breathed lightly. "But… why? What was the point?" she asked again.  
"You'll see why much later." Rutherford replied, vaguely. "For now I'll tell you I am not going to kill you, nor do I plan to. I won't target you again, but instead, you're going to go under an ordeal I have."  
"Ok… keep going." Shade encouraged. Rutherford leaned his face closer to hers. Shade could feel his light breath on her skin, which made a chill zip down her spine. She knew very well that he could felt her breath on his skin too, and that her heart was pounding sporadically. Shade could hardly hear because her heart was pounding so loudly.  
"You are expected to be watched over by me and a few others I have with this organization we're in. The reason why I came after you was so that Kiyotaka could 'believe' I killed you, but in reality I let you slip by without having too much harm done." Rutherford continued. "The reason we are going to watch you is because you hold our survival in your hands along with Ayumu Narumi."  
"Señor Narumi?!" Shade gasped.  
"I take it you've met?" Rutherford asked. Shade narrowed her eyes.  
"What do you want with him? He's got nothing to do with this!"  
"Oh, but don't you know? He's been trying to unravel the secret about us for some time now. That secret was the reason why Kiyotaka was and is on such a long hiatus." Rutherford came closer and whispered in her ear. "He has a plan to save us all… and you're going to help us with it."  
"Who's 'us'?"  
"You'll find out, soon." He pulled away slightly to look at Shade eye-to-eye. "To the extent that we have to protect you at all times when you're with us. You'll be given the circumstances that while you're protection will be offered, you must protect us in return, and that this offer is quite mandatory." Rutherford got off the couch and stood in front of the window. Shade sighed of relief as she felt the blood circulating in her face to die down a bit. "There will be times when drastic situations call for drastic measures, so do not hesitate to kill on the spot."  
"I am not going to kill anyone!" Shade shouted. "I won't!" Rutherford sighed.  
"Such a bothersome child you are." Rutherford turned to face Shade. "Look, there will come a time where you will have no choice but to just do so. As long as no one finds out, we're safe. If not then we'll find a way to help you clean up the evidence and even teach you the secrets to concealing your identity if needed." he set his sight back at the window and flipped his hair backwards behind his shoulder. "It's all for survival."  
"And if I refuse?" Shade inquired. Rutherford turned his head towards her. "I'm not saying that I don't want to, I'm just-"  
"I'm afraid refusal won't be acceptable." He replied and stared out at the scenery. "You really don't have a choice."  
"I could still leak the media I've collected to the press still." Shade suggested, "…but then that'd only make myself and not just you the center of attention. I'd end up being the person who dragged a star out of the sky, and also get just as a bad reputation as you."  
"…So…?" Rutherford crossed his arms over his chest. "What'll it be?"  
Shade thought about it. If she made a living with visiting Rutherford and being guarded while on top of that her sewing, gigs, and schoolwork, there would be no way she could possibly breathe normally. But she was also gambling with her life on the line. Whatever this "us" Rutherford was talking about, he made it come off as if this "us" was a group that was targeted often by law. Was Shade willing to do all this just find a way to find more about the AB-5? She'd be able to have contact with Kiyotaka after all. She would have it all. She could finally have the chances to avenge her father. There was only one thing she didn't want to resort to, and that was murder. The killing idea in general still struck to her as a red flag.  
"It's only for a few months." Rutherford stated suddenly, giving Shade a jump. "Until we find the people who are targeting us."  
"How many months is a few?"  
"We're unsure."  
"But how could y-"  
"Listen, you just have to give us the reward of protection while we give it to you in return. In that time we have to keep you a secret from Kiyotaka and after all that, you'll be home free, and I'll even tell you how to contact him. Are you in?"  
"It's not like I have a choice, like you said so…" Shade thought bitterly. She still had to think about it and paused. "…How do I know I can trust you?" Shade turned her head. "How do I know you're not just going to turn around and try to kill me again?" Rutherford didn't respond. "I won't join unless I know for sure that my safety is guaranteed." He stayed quiet for a while. The silence seemed to give Shade a tense feeling, but still have a hint of hope that maybe Rutherford was actually concentrating on something else other than her. She still wasn't completely sure if he wanted to kill her no matter if he said that he wouldn't.  
"…Killing you is my last priority right now." Rutherford quoted. "…Have you made your decision yet?"

Shade could only answer in one way she could answer a celebrity she used to admire. She stood up and walked over to the window and saw the view. At that instant she set her eyes on the view, her breath was taken away by how far and wide she had seen the city. She could even see the ally where they had their little verbal battle.  
"Nice, isn't it?" Rutherford asked.  
"Y-Yeah…" Shade stood there in awe. How could this moment not be ruined? Even though it was just a view of the city, Shade was still amazed by it all as she stared out and examined everything she could see, from the other buildings, to the streets, and on the roads where the cars were honking and driving.  
Looking out to the beautiful city felt like everything else around her was nearly erased, but reality shortly came back to hit Shade in the forehead. She shortly remembered her answer to Rutherford's request. Shade reluctantly tore away from the awesome scenery and stepped behind Rutherford, as she steadied her soft, firm hands. She began to rub his shoulders.  
"Mmph?!" He turned his head and seen her doing exactly what he thought she was doing. "What in the world are-"  
"What's the first thing do you want me to do, Rutherford?"


	12. Chapter 11

11  
"Us"

Shade had no idea what this new duty of hers was. The only thing about it was that she had no idea what the heck to do. She just had to protect this group of other people around her age along with Rutherford to be some sort of "Defender". If she did this correctly, she would also gain safety from this group, whatever it was. It sounded more like they just need a new bodyguard. But the only thing she didn't know was how was she going to do it?  
Whatever Rutherford had in store for her was a mystery all by itself to Shade. Her trust was beginning to weaken every second he breathed or every time he looked at her. Even a slightly friendly look appeared to be an instant threat to be on her guard at all times around him. He was a lot more dangerous than what he came off to be.

He led her to the kitchen table where he spread across four photos with information attached to each one. The photos revealed a spiky, red-headed boy with hazel eyes and uniquely tinted glasses. Another showed a girl who looked to be around ten or twelve with silver hair and grey eyes. The third one showed another girl with short brown hair and reddish-brown eyes. Finally the last one was again another girl with light blonde hair and green eyes, who looked quite dazed.  
Judging by what they were wearing in the photos, all four of them go to the same school that Ayumu, Hiyono and herself do.

"These are the people you must protect along with me." Rutherford told her. "Examine them and get to know the faces and names well. You may need that memory whenever you see even one of them in trouble." Shade nodded.  
"Go on…"  
"This is Kousuke Asazuki. Age: 17. He's a bit dodgy sometimes with our organization and of course Kiyotaka's plan, but while he usually handles himself well he can get boiled a bit too quickly. He can be a bit reckless." Rutherford explained. "He may seem nice and maybe even a flirt at first since you're a girl, but never take him lightly. He can be a bit… well… fun-loving when it comes to murder. Don't be afraid though. I doubt he would kill you if I kindly tell him not to."  
"Gee, thanks for the warning…" Shade scoffed.  
"Next is Rio Takeuchi. She appears to be like she's around 13, but she's actually 16. Her nature is usually playful and happy. You'd think she's like a little harmless school girl. When you see her, you'd probably think she's not all that bright, but with the right plans, she could make explosives as if they were nothing. She'll leave you with that jaw of yours dropping to the floor if you ever see what power those bombs have. Rio is most commonly known as our little "bomb pixie" because of this. She's a very thorough thinker so she has a thing for words. By the way, her favourite food is net-patterned melons." Rutherford continued.  
"Uh… ok…?" Shade tilted her head.  
"She's not fond to people outside of the organization that are creeping in to find more information. You may have to bribe her if needed."  
"For what? Giving her a reason to like me."  
"Exactly." Rutherford answered. Shade was stunned. "She's a bit childish but you'll get used to it, trust me. You learn to like her after about a minute or so. If you get her to like you, things will go by much more smoothly, but I wouldn't get my hopes up on any of the others."  
"Do you like me?" Shade asked. Rutherford blankly stared at her.  
"Back to where I was…" He ignored her completely and avoided her question. Shade straightened her posture.  
"Ryoko Takamachi. Age: 17. She's a fine athlete with a powerful pair of legs to prove it. She can run pretty fast, but while she's also a genius about traps, killing's not exactly something she enjoys unlike Kousuke or Rio. She doesn't really like me all that much either to be honest."  
"I can see why." Shade thought. Rutherford continued, "She may be difficult to keep up with if you don't have a keen eye, but even so Ryoko's still apart of our little organization. She is one of the least targeted out of us all."  
"I can also see why." Shade thought again. Well it seemed that her and Ryoko already had one thing in common: They both hated Rutherford's guts with a burning passion.  
"Finally, there's Sayoko Shiranagatani. Age: 17. She is under the care of her grandfather in a mansion in a downtown neighbourhood. She is currently undergoing amnesia, unfortunately. She is slowly recovering though. As one of us, she is clueless; she does not know she is cursed like us. Apparently she tried to kill herself at age 12 and hit her head very badly. She's been happier lately but the faint memory of being cursed may come around and haunt her one day. She has been targeted once and wasn't bothered with since. We're still skeptic whenever they may want to go after her still because she doesn't know the curse."  
"So do you still want me to watch over her?" Shade asked.  
"If you don't mind. Just an eye-out, nothing fancy."  
"Ok…"  
"And…" Rutherford stretched. "I'm sure you know well of who I am from our meeting last night."  
"Of course. Eyes Rutherford, age: 17. You're a quarter-English piano prodigy who was born in Eastern Britain and raised in Japan. You've hit the music industry at age 14 and now you're touring all over the world and gained many fans across the globe, and you've recently did a cologne commercial, which I think is the same cologne you are wearing now." Shade quoted and crossed her arms. "How could I not know who you are?" Rutherford raised his eyebrows and then slowly dropped them.  
"Someone's done their bit of the homework." he commented and leaned forward. "Now, how about we get to know a bit more about you?"  
"You're the one who targeted me in the first place so I'm sure you're well known of my name."  
"Seems to slip my mind." Rutherford snickered.  
"I hate you…"  
"No autographs please." He grinned. Shade sighed.  
"My name is Shade Katsura. Age: 15. I was born in Spain on May 3rd. I've lived there since I was about 4 and then my family moved here to Japan. My mother's side of the family didn't really approve of my dad. I am a Taurus, which explains why I can be a bit stubborn. In any case you can't tell by my accent, I'm obviously Hispanic since half of my family is from Spain." Shade explained. "I'm also aspiring to be a fashion designer, and I make a living by going to gigs and performing since I live in a low-class family, which is a whopping one other person. I also play guitar."  
"I see…" Rutherford seemed almost bored. "What about skills?"  
"Meaning…?'  
"Picking locks, speed, quick reflexes…? Those are only examples."  
"I can aim well with pretty much anything and I can tip toe very quietly and quickly. But other than that I don't really have much to be proud of." Shade sat back in her chair. "I'm not as interesting as you think. What makes you believe I can really protect you, let alone 4 others if I can't make bombs or figure our traps?"  
"You're forgetting that we have to protect you in return." Rutherford repeated. "There are people out there who target us by random. They are sent out to eliminate all of us no matter what it takes. We call them 'Hunters'." Shade sat and listened intently. "Fortunately, one of us, who is not with us at the moment, went and killed them all off."  
"So if they're a concern now that means…"  
"Correct. More recruits. What's worse is if they're after us and find out you are our little defender then we'll be in a lot of trouble. Not only would all 5 of our lives be endangered, but yours too."  
"If that happens, what'll happen to you if I'm not around?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"It's obvious really. If I see a Hunter, of course I'm going to run. What happens if I ever get killed and then I'm not around to save any of you? Or if any of you get attacked and I'm not there to save you?"  
"We have our skills, I'm sure we can handle a few Hunters, on our own. But that isn't the point of this ordeal." Rutherford narrowed his eyes mysteriously. Shade soon found herself to be suddenly uncomfortable as she uncrossed her arms. Just what exactly was this ordeal she got herself into? It just felt like Shade was trying to make sense of a scribble. She didn't even know these people that she had to protect, and she already agreed to this crazy pledge without knowing that outcomes, what she was headed for, the consequences, or if she was really going to contact Kiyotaka. Everything was starting to swirl in Shade's mind in a fog.  
"The ordeal is to simply a guard for a guard. It's not rocket science. You protect us, we protect you. There's nothing to it. Unless…" Rutherford took in another breath. "…Unless you feel like you're not up to the task."  
Shade looked at him suspiciously.  
"What task?"  
"There will be times where physical force, teamwork, quick thinking, maybe some possible last second decision making if you're lucky, may be involved." Rutherford sat back and crossed his arms. "The things you may get yourself into will be a bit dangerous in itself, but it's all to unravel more secrets about our mysterious little circle. Nobody knows what or who we really are and why we are cursed. Not even I know every single thing about us let alone myself."  
"Funny. You seem to be a type who'd keep all the secrets to yourself and wait until everyone else figured it out." Shade mentioned. "You have a lot to keep out of the public face. Must be hard."  
"Not really. You learn fast not to trust many people and how to keep your profile very low."  
"If that's so then why did you choose me for this task?" Shade asked quickly. Rutherford's eyes lowered and let out a small, "Humph." while keeping a straight face.  
"Your father's name… is it Arege Katsura?"  
"How did you know that?!" Shade demanded. "Did he do something to inflict your group…?"  
"No." Rutherford stretched his arms out and went back into the position he was in. "Your father knew bits and pieces about us. Still, we couldn't afford to have any 'rats'."  
"Did you do it?! Did you kill my father?"  
"No." Rutherford looked straight at Shade, "None of us in the circle did any sort as to kill off a lawyer if Kiyotaka knew him. Your father only knew a minor fraction of information about us compared to Kiyotaka. Instead, we were framed." Shade sat back in his seat in shock. Everything was coming together in a big clash. She couldn't figure anything out in a way that would make sense to her. Her mind was so cluttered that the overload of information was starting to bite at her brain.  
"Wh-What?"  
"See those purple irises over there?" Rutherford made a head nod in the direction he was referring to. Shade turned her head and saw a pale blue vase full of purple irises. "Irises are Kiyotaka's favourite flower. Little Narumi hates them with a burning passion. Do you know why?" Rutherford eyed Shade as a confused look came upon her face.  
"They are the symbol of a certain joy. The joy of a believer."  
"So… Señor Narumi doesn't believe in himself?"  
"Exactly. The two brothers are polar opposites. Furthermore, the iris is also the symbol we leave behind whenever one of us kills someone."  
"Yeah, so?"  
"There were irises left at the crime scene of the AB-5 yes, but none of us would leave a corpse out in the open unless we had no choice." Rutherford explained.  
"What do you mean by that?" Shade asked.  
"The body of the victim showed a sense of struggle. There's no way we'd kill someone if our target knew they were in danger. We try to be very slick and clean about our murders." Rutherford claimed. "We usually don't leave a mess unless someone is trying to have a bit of fun doing it."  
The last statement that Rutherford said sent Shade shivering.

"What am I supposed to do if one of you actually has to kill someone like that?" Shade asked.  
"Your role does not enter in a situation such as that." Rutherford replied. "Depending on the situation, the police and detectives will arrive there, and the odds are that little Narumi and that Yuizaki girl will be there trying to piece together and identify what happened before they do. Then we test him of his wit, luck, and courage. Usually it's a test to get him to believe in himself. The test is mostly a little game or a puzzle that is a bit more than deadly."  
"So that Russian roulette thing we did… you tried to kill me, but you were really testing me. Is that how…?"  
"Exactly."  
"I see…" Shade replied softly. "Well, I can only think of this thing to talk about other than this."  
"What's that?"  
"Who are you exactly?" Shade leaned forward before asking. Rutherford sighed and rubbed his forehead. He leaned forward like how Shade did and made a hand gesture for her to come closer. Shade stood out of her chair and leaned on the table. She turned her head and Rutherford softly whispered, "If I knew all the answers then you wouldn't be asking, now would you?" Shade paused and eyed him. "Besides, I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to." Rutherford sat back down and Shade did too. "We're all men of mysteries… even to ourselves. But I digress…" Rutherford said suddenly and rose from his chair. "You should put some new bandages on your arms and head back home. There isn't really anything I have left to tell you for now." he concluded.  
Shade looked down on her arms. They were burning with irritation and they were dry and dark burgundy from the blood. She did need new bandages, but there were still a few things she was still unsure of. She decided to save it all for next time she had come to visit him… or would she?  
"Oh, by the way," Rutherford started. "If you tell little Narumi or that Yuizaki girl about the ordeal, you're dead. Do you understand?" Shade jumped and slowly nodded nervously, not even bothering to ask anything else.  
"Good." Rutherford coldly remarked. "We can't have you let the cat out of the bag. It's all for our survival… and now it shall be yours too." Shade nervously gulped down a pint of saliva that was gathering under her tongue. "Is there anything else?" Rutherford asked.  
"Yes." Shade answered. "One more thing." She stood and came to Rutherford. She kneeled down so she wouldn't seem so tall and intimidating. "How do you feel about a small public social engagement?" Rutherford's face became suspicious and confused.  
"Meaning…?"  
"This is going to sound so wrong and maybe even a bit weird, but… could we start over?" she asked. He paused and tilted his head. "I know, I know. It could never happen in that way, but I'm not talking or thinking about taking this into that way of a relationship, you sicko." Shade said in one mouthful in a 'not that way' girl voice. Now Rutherford was really lost.  
"What are you talking about?" He asked. Shade's face flushed a light pink.  
"Uh, huh!? L-Look, j-just… never mind!" She stuttered. "Listen, I just… want to do this over. Me and you, I mean. We got off the wrong foot right away and I really can't blame either one of us for that. I mean, you tried to kill me but you didn't. So I guess this is kind of my… thanks?" She looked up at him with one of his eyebrows raised. "Yeah, I know… this is awkward… but, maybe… we can find a way to meet halfway. If not then that's fine, I just want to know if… we can start this whole thing over and try to put these things behind us."  
Rutherford had a strange look on his face, but he still managed to keep his expression straight. He was thinking.  
"Mmm… Possibly. Considering you did walk in here extremely angry."  
"Where and when?"  
"You're the one who asked." Rutherford eyed. Shade chuckled.  
"True." She smirked. "In that case, meet me tomorrow night at this address at 8pm sharp. Got a pen?"


	13. Chapter 12

12  
Defender

After that long conversation with Rutherford everything suddenly seemed like the whole world was now in her shoulders as Shade left the penthouse building. She soon got a sick feeling in her stomach with a strong regret. She now figured out that her life was not going to be normal. As long as she lived, she was now going to fight for everything. "Us" or no "us", she had to gamble everything on the line if she wanted to do this right. She had to. It was all for her father, for finding Kiyotaka, and more importantly… it was so she could solve the AB-5 once and for all.  
Shade walked back home and lazed around, everything still very hazy and spiralling in her head. She jumped when she heard the phone ring.

"Moshi moshi?" She answered.  
"SHADE!" it was Hiyono in her cheery voice. Shade swiftly pulled the phone away and then slowly brought it back to her ear.  
"Oh, hola Señorita Yuizaki. What's u-"  
"What happened over at Rutherford's?!" Hiyono demanded in a jumpy voice. "Please tell me! I must know! I NEED to know! The suspense is killing me!" Shade remembered she had to keep her mouth shut in order to live, so she quickly made up a lie.  
"Uh… he wanted to see how I was doing."  
"What?! Why couldn't he walk his lazy butt to the hospital then?!"  
"Señorita, Rutherford's a celebrity. Seeing as he barely knows me, it would be weird for him to visit a total stranger."  
"Well I guess, but still. It doesn't make sense."  
"Yeah" Shade slumped on her belly on top of her bed. She felt terrible for lying to Hiyono, but it was something she had to do in order to keep her life and find more answers herself. "I still don't understand why he would want to kill me though. I mean sure, they were orders but still. It seems odd that a celebrity like him would want anything to do with me."  
"Yeah." Hiyono agreed. "I guess people are just getting more and more bent and strange each generation."  
"You got that right." Shade added. "But I'm meeting him again tomorrow."  
"WHAT?! WHY?!"  
"Señorita, please keep quiet…" Shade cried. "My ears are sensitive."  
"I'm sorry but I MUST know why!" Hiyono was hugging a pillow, tugging on the fabric. She then took in a deep gasp. "You're not going out with him now are you?!"  
"OF COURSE NOT!" Shade shouted. "There are still a lot of things I don't exactly know about him. I want to patch things up a bit."  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'patch things up'?! HE TRIED TO KILL YOU!"  
"I know, I know. But, Señorita," Shade paused and inhaled. "There's something about him in particular that intrigues me. He has this deep look in his eyes that makes me wonder… has he ever felt… I don't know, loved?" Hiyono softly gasped and paused. She thought about it for a while, slowly figuring out that Shade had a point. Rutherford was apart of the Blade Children, but he was different than Kousuke, Rio and Ryoko. He's always had a cold look or aspect to him, but it wasn't like he had to be cold or he chose to be, he was just like that naturally. But why would Shade mention something like that? Did she like Rutherford?  
"I can see fear inside him. He's afraid of something he won't admit, and… well this is just a guess but, he doesn't even look like he's ever cried in his life. Like, cry cry." Shade described.  
"Hmm?" Hiyono suddenly got thrown off of the loop and her train of thought drove off the rail. What the heck was Shade talking about? Rutherford? Crying? That would be the day when the apocalypse came and destroyed the world… twice. "What do you mean cry?"  
"I mean what I say, Señorita. I mean, if you study him carefully from his posture to the things he says and his body language, it's like he doesn't necessarily want to be known as a weak person." Shade reasoned. "Guys in general take tears as a sign of weakness and defeat. There had to be something that happened in his past to inflict this. If only he wasn't so vague and dodgy about everything!"  
"And you want to know why…?"  
"That's the thing! I don't know!" Shade groaned. "Argh! He's so mysterious that it gets me mad! Totally loco!" Hiyono sat back.  
"Hmm…" Hiyono thought. "Maybe this could work out."  
"Huh?" Shade stopped. "What do you mean?"  
"Think about it. If you can somehow get close to Rutherford, you could have access to whatever information he has on Kiyotaka. And besides, maybe he'll be nicer." Hiyono explained. Shade paused for a while. Not much longer and she heard Hiyono snickering on the other line. Shade began to chuckle as their laughing escalated into a barrel of laughter. "Oh who am I kidding? Rutherford couldn't be nice even if he had sweet sugar injected in himself 20 times."  
"Haha! So true." Shade took in another breath and wiped one of her watering eyes. "Oh… you make me laugh Señorita. Such beautiful gift you have." The two girls took in many breaths before actually stopping the giggles. "But seriously though… I really wish this meeting turns out to be good."  
"Yeah, hopefully." Hiyono added.  
"Well, I think I should go. It's getting late and I didn't do my homework yet. I'll see you at school tomorrow, ok Señorita Yuizaki?"  
"Mm-Hmm! See ya later Shade. And good luck."  
"Yeah. Thanks. Adios."

Rutherford sat at his piano later that evening, scribbling notes and playing whatever he noted in his mind that sounded good. Writing music was not only for any upcoming songs for an album; the music in general helped clear his mind from anything that was bugging him or if he just needed a short temporary escape from reality.  
What boggled his mind was how Shade wanted to "start over". After all he's done he thought maybe she wouldn't want anything to do with him. Now she wanted to start over? What was going through this girl's mind when she said that? He barely knew what she could've meant since no one's said something like that to him before. Was she forgiving him? Was she laying a trap for him for revenge? Was she planning for more blackmail? Did she just want to talk and ask more annoying and monotonous questions?  
Who knows? Rutherford could not predict that girl at all from what she was going to say, to what she was going to do, hence the fact she held the roulette gun to her head even though she knew the last slot in the chamber was where his fake bullet was.  
He had a hard time trying to figure out what could be going through her mind let alone try to grasp the fact that she was furious when she came, and then regretful but satisfied by the time she left.  
She was a very strange person. Now he had to memorize her name so that he could explain all this to Kousuke and Rio. What a pain.  
"Shade Katsura…" The name seemed to roll off his tongue. "Interesting name…"  
Rutherford continued to press the ivory keys in various melodic motions. By the time he had finished, he took in deep breath… which was a big mistake.  
"Aah!" He held the left part of his chest. His missing rib was hurting; so much that he couldn't breathe properly. "Damn… Not again…" It was on and off again that the left side of his chest would hurt. It's not like he could blame himself though since his 7th left rib was removed at birth. But still… he had the curse of a Blade Child, and this was only one part of it. He just hoped that it wouldn't hurt when he met Shade tomorrow, or else she would wonder what was wrong. "Why are we cursed?" he asked himself when he already knew he had no answer, and no one would answer back. "Could this Katsura girl really protect us? If so… can she build up enough confidence and power to help little Narumi?"

The next day, Shade was sitting with Hiyono and Ayumu in their little room as usual. Hiyono was reaching out for some dango skewers from Ayumu's lunch box. She took a bite and savoured the doughy ball.  
"This is soooooooo yummy Ayumu!" She smiled. "You're definitely the best chef in the world!"  
"Yeah yeah…" Ayumu shrugged. "Just don't get distracted." He seemed to be on edge.  
"Did you find anything on the AB-5 in the records bank, Señorita?" Shade asked.  
"I did get into the library, but for some reason, there doesn't seem to be much." Hiyono stated sadly.  
"Just a little information could mean a lot." Shade replied, eagerly.  
"Ok, well, the case file stated pretty much all you've said so far. The victim showed signs of trouble. But the weird thing is that, your father had a pocket knife with him." Hiyono explained, looking a bit forlorn.  
"What?!"  
"When Kiyotaka searched the body, the pocket knife was in his hand." Hiyono reluctantly told her. "There was blood on it from the murderer, but also his own. Mostly his own."  
"He could've cut himself!" Shade supposed.  
"I doubt that." Ayumu stated. "If the body showed struggle, that could only mean that your father was fighting in self-defence. The only way that there could be blood of the murderer and himself is if he nicked the murderer and then somehow had the knife pushed into himself." Shade froze as the size of pupils shrunk into a small black dot.  
"Wh-What…?!"  
"Ayumu! I wasn't going to tell her that part!" Hiyono lectured.  
"This is a family matter for Shade. She deserves to know." Ayumu reasoned. Shade slouched back in her chair after hearing this news. Did this mean…?  
"This… It has to be something else! It just has to!" Shade denied. "Why would he-?!"  
"If you're thinking suicide, that's not the case." Ayumu interrupted. Shade stopped again and looked at Ayumu. "If he had a loving family and an all right paying job then there's really nothing to worry about. He would have no reason nor motivation or drive to kill himself. He must've been pushed and the knife got in the way or something…"  
"It can't be accidental though! What about the irises?! What about Kikyo Ishida's testimony?!" Shade demanded. Ayumu had a calm but soft melancholic look to himself.  
"…We don't know about that yet." He sighed. "Sorry." Hiyono looked at Ayumu, seeming a little worried.  
"But maybe we can get something. We have to… Kiyotaka will probably plan something out to lead us to the answer." she said, hopefully. Shade hunched over the table with her head lowered as Ayumu scoffed the idea of Kiyotaka "helping" them. All he tried to do was test him and make him dance for his stupid little "Blade Children" show. It was all just something Ayumu couldn't bear all at once. It was bad enough that Asazuki didn't have any information whatsoever on the AB-5 and yet so much about Kikyo Ishida. There had to be something to join her to the AB-5 without making it seem like a mere coincidence. But what?

Shade rubbed the inner corners of her eyes. She wasn't crying, but she knew she just had to try and hold it in as long as she could so that she wouldn't have to. Staying optimistic like this had its limits, and she couldn't afford this one after hearing what he just heard. She knew her father wouldn't like to watch her cry. With another inhale of air, she leaned back in her chair.  
"You gonna be ok?" Hiyono asked, concerned.  
"Yeah… I will…" Shade nodded.  
"Let's talk about something else." Ayumu mentioned.  
"Ok." Hiyono smiled.

After a long talk, Shade had learned a lot more about Ayumu Narumi. She found out that he's pursuing this group. He couldn't really say who they were because he still didn't know who or what they were exactly. They seemed to know Kiyotaka as well. Shade decided not to talk or think about it for long. After all, she did make that ordeal with Rutherford, so she couldn't say anything about it anyway, not that Rutherford had anything to do with this group.

"So what about you?" Ayumu asked. "What's your story?" Shade raised her eyebrows. "I mean, you never really explained yourself besides the AB-5."  
"Well, I guess I can start by saying that I moved across town because my mom got fired from one of her jobs."  
"Wait, 'one of'? Meaning multiple?" Hiyono asked.  
"Yeah. You may not know it from looking at me, but we're not the richest people in the world. I'm not just saying that though. We are desperate for money at least a few times everyday." Shade explains. Ayumu and Hiyono looked stunned. "My mom works around the clock just to support us two. She works at two places-but I guess it's just one now. The other employees envy her hard work. As for me, I help out as well."  
"How so?" Hiyono tilted her head, curiously.  
"The gigs I go to." Shade concluded.  
"What do you do?" Ayumu asked.  
"I play guitar and sing at a local coffee shop." Shade smiled. "It's something I do almost all the time. It's pretty much became the sole part of my everyday routine. I take whatever's available as long as it doesn't interrupt school hours." Shade stretched and sat back in her chair, completely relaxed. "Times are tough, y'know? But even through the roughest times, you still gotta find a way to smile. After all… wealth and fame can get you happiness, but that happiness is fake and doesn't even last twice as long as happiness you get from people you love." Shade yawned and grinned. "Material things end up being a total waste in the end. Money can only make you happy for so long that eventually you end up having everything you want… only to find the feeling of being dejected and wanting more than just stuff. Then that's when you really feel like you have nothing."

Ayumu looked at Shade, then at Hiyono. Hiyono looked at Ayumu and raised her eyebrows. The two were stunned to hear how Shade's financial worries. It didn't seem to cross their minds that Shade would still try to be happy despite what Rutherford did to her and the fact of her financial issues. Not to mention she doesn't have a father to go home to either.  
"Yeah, I know you're shocked." Shade chuckled. "But I'm fine. I really am. It doesn't matter how much money you have. The troubles I have shouldn't worry you either. As long as the person can still find a way to look into another person and look at all the good things, …" Shade closed her eyes. "…And to live like everyday was your last… That's how to truly live, I think."

A few moments of Shade explaining some past experiences, the bell for lunch to end rang. The trio packed up and headed for their next few classes while Shade tried to forget what she learned about her father. To her, it was tougher than getting a nail out of someone's, if not, her own foot.

4:30pm came along and the three made their goodbyes and "see you tomorrow's". Shade was on her way to yet another gig at the coffee house, when something triggered her interest. Or rather, her curiosity and concern. In a bushel nearby, she heard the sound of pounding and a boy's voice shouts and grunts in pain. Shade followed the sounds as she suddenly heard a girl's voice scream, "KOUSUKE!" Followed by, "Damn you!"  
There was more pounding, but overall sounded like the other girl failed to beat whomever it was she was trying to beat as a cold, heavy thud was heard right after that. "Sorry girly, you'll just have to wait your turn. I was ordered to kill off this redhead here." cackled a cruel and gruff voice. "You'll just have to be patient. You will join him soon after I'm done with 'im." Shade peeked through the bushes and saw a girl with short brown hair sitting up against a tree. It was one of the girls Rutherford had the photographs of. She was apart of the group. Who was she again? Shade tried as quickly as she could to gather up all the scattered information in her head. She couldn't seem to remember her name.  
As Shade looked at her again, she seemed to be beaten and weak, but her body was toned. It was easy to tell that she was an athlete for sure. That's when it hit her; Shade knew who she was: Ryoko… something-machi. It didn't matter. One of them was in trouble.  
Shade scanned the area and saw an older man dressed in black with a gun pick up a red-headed boy with tinted glasses by his shirt. This was bad! Shade had to do something! If she saved them, then they would help her in return in case she was in trouble. But how? She was trapped between life and death. Was she ready to put everything she's ever worked for on stake of that line? Was she willing to take the risk?  
Yes… She thought so. Right when Shade was prepared to nearly give up everything, Ryoko tackled the guy in black and another gun ejected from his belt. It was close to Shade's position, but she'd have to be very fast in order to do this right, and she only had one shot to do it.  
Ryoko struggled with the man and to keep him pinned to the ground. "Kousuke! C'mon! Hurry up!"  
"I'm trying…!" The red-headed boy, apparently named Kousuke, was slowly rising, but he seemed to be pretty limp. But before Kousuke had a chance to even get up off his knees, Ryoko was already thrown off and had a gun in her face.  
"NO!" Kousuke shouted. Now was her chance! Shade flew from the bushes and quickly snatched up the gun and shot the man in black. It was a clean shot to his right shoulder. He growled and moaned as blood dripped to the grass. Kousuke snapped his head to the right to look behind him.  
"What th-"  
"GO! NOW! HURRY!" Shade screamed. Ryoko scrambled to her feet and placed Kousuke's arm around her shoulder. The girl looked back and stood there for a while as the man in black tried to grab his gun. Shade shot him again in his left shoulder. "C'mon, what are you waiting for?! GO!" The couple limped off, but the man in black wasn't ready to give up. He aimed his gun over at the boy, as Shade dashed in a blur into the man and threw her knee into the man's gut. Without another second, Shade pulled the trigger again. BANG!  
Thud!  
The body dropped in an instant. Shade stood over the corpse in utter shock. "What… What just happened?"


	14. Chapter 13

13  
Her

Everything began to shatter and blur around Shade. Everything disappeared for that moment as an overflowing supply of cold sweat broke out, and several goose bumps arose. The shivers and nervous shaking came along with it. Even the hairs on the neck stood up on end. Shade was still holding the gun she did it with. It was all suddenly a memory that was burned into her skull and sunk deep into her scattered mind: Shade just killed someone.  
Not just someone like an innocent person… She killed a Hunter. Right away Shade dropped the gun and stepped away from the corpse. She couldn't believe what she did. This was bad. It was going to end in a catastrophe if anyone - even if one person - found out. There had to be a way to avoid it. She now knew what Rutherford meant when he said that there may be times when, speak of the Englishman, desperate times call for desperate measures. Shade only knew what she had to do. She had to take the gun and run to Rutherford about this. Nothing else was going to help her now at this rate.

"Who was that?" Ryoko asked.  
"I… I don't know…" Kousuke added. "Do you think that was the girl Rutherford was taking about?"  
"Maybe, but he didn't really talk about her much, rather what she looked like… seeing he actually spared her life, too. Figures…" Ryoko scoffed.  
"…It's still mind-blowing that Rutherford let in this outsider inside the Blade Children. As a "Defender" no less! How do we know we can even trust this girl?" Kosuke growled.  
"Who knows… That damn Rutherford probably won't tell us any time soon. But I guess maybe we have to wing it." Ryoko said reluctantly.  
"WHAT?! Ow…!"  
"Don't shout. Your wounds are gonna open." She scowled. "And I know you're upset about it. Trust me, I'm not in the greatest mood either, but we're gonna have to actually trust Rutherford about this."  
"Are you kidding me?" Kousuke whined. "So now we have to risk our lives for her?! A total stranger? No way…"  
"But Kousuke… She saved us." Ryoko pointed out. "If there was a chance that she was in danger, we'd have to come in and save her, and in return, she'll keep us safe from society's knowing." Kousuke grimaced. She had a point, but how could Rutherford be so sure about this girl? She's only an outsider, someone who shouldn't even know about the Blade Children.

"What do you mean 'defender'?!" Kousuke suddenly snapped.  
"She has the potential. I have tested her skills already. She knows Kiyotaka and Little Narumi, and has obviously has a drive to believe." Rutherford explained as he swiftly moved his fingers across several keys.  
"But why?! She's an outsider, Rutherford! Can't you see that?" Kousuke questioned. "Letting someone like her in on even the slightest little fact that such thing as the Blade Children exists is too risky. This can't be just a coincidence that you 'found' this Katsura person."  
"I know she may not seem like much at first, but I assure you that there is more to come." Rutherford nodded and scribbled down more notes on a sheet of ruled music paper. "The fact that she somehow found Little Narumi is a coincidence in itself. Kiyotaka must've knew somehow that she would be an element to the Blade Children being saved. Katsura even said so herself that she knew Kiyotaka from the AB-5 incident." Kosuke gave Rutherford a look of curiosity and suspicion.  
"The AB-5?" He inquired. "Little Narumi was just asking me about that. He won't shut up about it and I have a feeling that the Yuizaki girl is on this too. How's this Katsura girl of yours connected to that case? It's been closed for years." Kousuke crossed his arms and scowled.  
"She's been trying to re-open the case for some time now. The victim of the case is none other than her own father. She's been trying all she can to avenge his death and find the real murderer and bring him or her to justice." Rutherford played his piece to a soft ending and stopped to turn towards Kousuke. "No matter how you look at it, it's a pretty evenly matched situation. We are defended and do a bit of our work protecting her, we find out why we're cursed, she finds Kiyotaka and the murderer to avenge her father, close AB-5 for good, and then we'll be set free. All this without letting Little Narumi, Katsura and a certain 'somebody' from finding out anything else beyond our reach." Rutherford stood up and faced Kousuke. "She doesn't even know that we are called the Blade Children. She won't know a thing about who we are."  
Kousuke scoffed and shrugged it off. He wasn't sure from the beginning if Kiyotaka, let alone Little Narumi could even save them at all. The false faith he once had extinguished a long time ago. The doubt he had usually came around to remind him that he probably didn't know what to believe in anymore. He became a criminal on his own, by himself, living by his own reasons. Kosuke had that same annoyance of that so-called faith would come around once in a while and wonder if Little Narumi had that kind of power to just believe in his abilities that he can save them. The possibilities seemed almost endless. But now they had this Katsura person to deal with to help him with just that by protecting them all. Who the hell was she anyway? She can't be all that special, can she?  
Then again, there he was clutching on Ryoko's shoulder with his life still slightly in tact but not perfect like how it should be without this damn curse they all had to share. He supposed that the good thing was that he was still alive, and so was Ryoko, who was obviously more important than the situation itself to him. At the same time he wondered, could Katsura really try to defend them as the Blade Children, despite the curse they have? Would it make a difference? Does she even know that they are cursed? Would THAT make a difference? Who knows?

Shade could feel the anxiety building up and the wind slicing through her hair. She still couldn't believe this was happening. The fact of what she didn't want to happen did happen. Just the pure thought of having her hands stained with the sin she had committed made her stomach curl in several knots.  
Shade approached Rutherford's apartment without a doubt in her mind and rapidly knocked on the door several times. After the door before her had opened, Shade barely had the energy to talk to the silver-haired boy at the door. He stared at her, examining her body language carefully.  
"My, what brings you here?" He asked. Shade let out shuddering breaths and couldn't seem to find any words to say. The fear must've been slowly eating her from the inside-out, and her words was just a piece of what was being devoured at that very moment. Rutherford veered at her slightly and led her inside as he closed the door gently. He pretty much knew what she was going to say, anyway. "So… Was I right about desperate times calling for desperate measures?" The only thing Shade did was nod her head. The incident must've made Shade so afraid that she was now mute. She sat on the leather couch yet again as she began to think and deny how she would end up in the flashy, classic-looking apartment again.  
Rutherford sat beside her and noticed her constant shivering. He sighed, exasperated and walked over to the coat rack. He threw over Shade's shoulders one of his trench coats. He sat back down as she looked surprised and touched the jacket, then quickly shot a glance at him of confusion. He rolled his eyes and sighed again. "You looked cold. Don't see a some sort of 'sign' or something." He crossed his arms and his legs like how he usually sat. Shade stared down on the jacket and said nothing. It smelled like a masculine, light body spray instead of a strong, expensive-smelling cologne.  
The silence seemed to be the only thing that seemed to calm her down the most, and the warmth of the coat around her helped a lot, but she knew that Rutherford would think she was giving into him if she thanked him right away for it. She thought to just stay there without words. The moment was just too perfect to mess up with her talking.

"So," Rutherford finally broke the ice after a good half hour of silence. "Can I take a quick look at the gun your hiding in your sleeve?"  
Shade nearly choked on her own spit going down her throat to the sudden question. How did he know? Was it really that noticeable? She knew it would be awkward at first since it was tucked in her sleeve but she honestly thought that it wasn't that obvious. Was this guy psychic or something?  
Rutherford smirked as Shade glared at him intently.  
"You're angry with me aren't you?" he asked. Shade made a low growl, followed with an exasperated sigh. "You should do something about that anger problem of yours."  
"Oh shut up!" Shade snapped. She pulled out the gun and handed it over to him. He veered at the gun and then at her. She had head lowered.  
"What do you want me to do with this?" he asked. "It's your murder weapon. Why did you take it?"  
"I WAS SCARED, OK?!" Shade suddenly shouted. Her heavy breathing came back. "I didn't know what to do, honestly… I just knew that I had to get the hell out of that place. If I didn't, who knows what could've happened…" Shade retracted her arm and examined the rustic silver gun. "I really don't know what to do. What if I get cau-"  
"Very unlikely." Rutherford interrupted. He took the gun from her hands and surveyed it and checking the barrel. "This gun may be old but from the looks of it, it probably works like new." He checked to see if it was loaded. It wasn't. "It's unlikely you will get caught. Odds are the police will be over at the scene in about 4-12 hours or so. Maybe even the next day. If that's true, then Little Narumi will also be there with his little girlfriend." he prophesized. "He will try and find the suspects first had in probably that same day, if not a few hours or a week at maximum. He's a natural detective at these things. We just have to make sure he doesn't find you." Rutherford turned towards Shade. "Do you understand?"  
"How are you so sure that Señor Narumi will fall for that?!" She demanded. "There's not way he can get a lead in one day let alone a week!"  
"Relax." Rutherford replied, sounding very annoyed. "How many times must I repeat myself? If you help us stay hidden, we'll help you stay hidden as well. There is a thing called perception, and listening. Maybe you should look it up sometime?" His words shot Shade like ice. She thought about shooting back another comeback, but she knew that it wouldn't do much. She was talking with Eyes Rutherford after all.  
"So what do you propose we do about this?" She inquired with worry.  
"First of all, the owner of this gun probably won't be needing it anymore. You might as well take it seeing as it would've possibly arrested you, and in fact saved your very life." Rutherford claimed. "The finger prints on the gun and the gun power residue on your hands would've been most unpleasant for your well-being if you left it at the crime scene." Shade lifted an eyebrow in sudden curiosity.  
"Since when do you care about MY well-being?" she questioned.  
"I don't."  
"Then why'd you mention it, in the first place?" Shade quickly asked after Rutherford replied. She knew she had him corned in the conversation. Shade knew for a fact that he'd care less about her, but why would he "worry" about her well-being? "You obviously don't care about-"  
"Why don't we get back to what's actually important?" Rutherford interrupted. Shade raised her eyebrows. She raised the palms of her hands, telling him "ok, backing away now." Shade figured he'd interrupt, and that in itself told her that he didn't want to talk about the matter because he was either lying or didn't want to admit the truth that she was right. She, like any other normal person, assumed the second outcome that came to her mind. "Little Narumi has a sister-in-law in the detective force. It is most likely she will be there when Little Narumi and the girl arrive. Little Narumi has a nick for getting the prime suspect before she does, but we're going to make sure that he doesn't."  
"How so?"  
"You rescued Kosuke and Ryoko, right?" he asked. "I'll fill in for you. I'll be the suspect he's looking for."  
"WHAT?!" Shade stood up. "He'll know that it was me! Didn't you say that you guys leave a small bouquet of irises behind when you kill someone?! He's going to know that for sure!"  
"When I say fill in, I don't exactly mean that I'll take the fall." Rutherford added. Shade stopped completely. "I'm only going to make it look like I could've possibly killed the man you've shot." Shade looked at Rutherford with suspicion and walked around the back of the couch.  
"What exactly are you getting at?" she supposed. "Are you insinuating that Señor Narumi is going to have to try and find me while you lead him on just so I could lay low for a bit?"  
"Maybe…" Rutherford answered vaguely. Of course, Shade thought. His speech always seemed like he was always hiding something up his sleeve, just beating around the bush while she was trying to wrap her thoughts around the different possibilities of his moves.  
"I see…" Shade replied. "So I'll have to hide for a while?"  
"Not necessarily." Rutherford yawned. "You'll just have to keep a low profile and keep your brand new gun hidden in a very secluded place that only you know of. I'll tell you when your identity needs to be hidden from society."  
"Alright." Shade nodded. She sighed, feeling the weight of the world lift off of her shoulders just a bit. "…What should I do about questioning? Señor Narumi might catch on to my lying if he's as good as you say he is."  
"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Rutherford shrugged.  
"And why's that, Mr. Confident?" Shade asked, cynically. Rutherford was silent for a while, then he glanced upwards at Shade's face with a wry grin.  
"Just wait and see." He smirked. Shade stared into his icy blue eyes and somehow found some courage to believe him. She nodded in response and tried to keep all the information about laying low and hiding the gun away in her head, as if it wasn't cluttered already.

Rutherford knew for a fact that Shade was taking this way too seriously. The fact that she walked in completely scared to death and has now calmed down into the sarcastic Spanish lady he once knew. Yet still,  
There was nagging atmosphere that there was something Shade was hiding. That was something Rutherford would have to unwind slowly so that he can make out the scribbled chicken scratch she drew for him. Reading someone like her was not going to be a walk in the park since she probably won't say first-hand what she's thinking to him. What a pain… he thought. But it'll be something well worth it, because he knew Kiyotaka probably has something planned and Shade was the key of that newly planned plot to take place. But that was for later.  
Rutherford stood up and snatched the jacket away from Shade and he also put on a pair of sunglasses. Shade didn't react to having the trench coat being ripped away from her. He turned to her and asked, "Are you coming?'  
"To where?"  
"To visit a friend." He answered back as he walked towards the door. He laid his hand on the door knob before looking at Shade again with his nonexistent blank stare. He lowered his sunglasses. "Well? If you are, then the gun stays here."  
"I know that you dummy!" Shade spurted. Rutherford chuckled to himself as Shade followed him to the door. "What's so funny?"  
"You reminded me of Rio just then."  
"Rio?" Shade lifted an eyebrow. "One of the girls you showed me?"  
"Yes. Childish, yet cunning and mature."  
"I AM NOT CHILDISH!" Shade huffed. Rutherford chuckled to himself even more. "Quit laughing!"  
"I'm not laughing." Rutherford switched back to his neutral expression and tone quickly.  
"You are so you liar!" Shade argued. "Liar, liar leather pants on fire!"  
"I don't always wear leather pants."  
"Hanging from a telephone wire!" Shade accused.

Rutherford led Shade to a hospital, the one she stayed at for a bit while she awaited her awake from the warehouse incident. They walked in together down the maze-like hallways until Rutherford stopped. "Ah, here it is." Shade glanced at the name plate of the resident in the room. It read in katakana: Asazuki Kousuke. The name struck a sudden epiphany to Shade as her pupils shrunk in shock. She remembered the name Kousuke being mentioned when she saved the couple back at the school before she shot the man who was about to kill them all.  
Without another thought, Shade walked in behind Rutherford. Right away, a red-headed boy with spiky hair turned his head and saw Rutherford.  
"Rutherford." Was the only thing he said. Next to the window was a girl with short brown hair with the same school uniform as Shade. She was silent as she shot a glare at Rutherford. At that moment, Shade knew for sure that this was the exact same couple she saved. The couple noticed her right away. "Who are you? Rutherford's lackey?"  
"My name is Shade Katsura. It's unfortunate we had to meet like this… Señor Asazuki." She bowed politely and expected for the worst to come her way. The most frightening thing of all was that she was ready for anything.


	15. Chapter 14

**UPDATE!:  
**Hey, all! I'm so sorry about the long break. I've hit major writer's block and kind of strayed from this series for a while, and recently I've started re-watching the anime with a friend of mine and I got back into the drive and got over my hurdle of being stuck for so long.  
Mind you, I'm still having a little trouble with the latest chapter but I will guarantee that I have not gone away from the story at all. Again, I want to complete the manga so I get the entire feel for the series itself and not just halfway. I have yet to finish it, but rest assured that this story will not go uncompleted!

I have also went through the entire story and noticed so many typos and such, and since I've (slightly) grown as a writer, I've went through it all and re-worded and updated the past chapters before 14. Not EVERYTHING is different, but a few kinks have been worked out is all.

So enjoy the chapters I have posted, and again critique is open!

BTW, thanks to all who have reviewed it and enjoyed it thus far! There will be more to come.  
MD04 ~

* * *

14  
Trust

Kousuke's expression told Shade that he was utterly floored by her introduction. It sort of felt like she was psychic or that Rutherford told her everything… which he probably did and left out all the important parts, like say the fact that they were cursed and missing a rib on the left side of their chests.  
"You look like you've seen a ghost." Shade glanced at Kousuke who just gives her a little look of suspicion and wariness.  
"So you're the little Spanish girl Rutherford's been talking about." he supposed.  
"Guess so." Shade replied. "Heard a lot about me?"  
"Just this and that." Kousuke chatted.  
"I see." They exchanged looks for a bit. Shade turned towards the brown-haired girl. Ryoko met eye contact with her. Shade could see that she was tensing up. A lot. "You must be Señorita Ryoko." Shade commented. "I don't remember your last name so I-"  
"Takamachi." Ryoko interrupted. Shade shrugged it off as a sort of territorial thing. It was a given for sure. Shade sort of expected that they wouldn't trust her right away. What kind of things was Rutherford saying to them about her anyway? Did he tell them she was a terrorist or something?  
"I see. I'll remember that, Señorita Takamachi." Shade nodded. Rutherford sat and relaxed on the couch while Shade leaned against the wall.  
"You remember the deal right?" Rutherford spoke suddenly. Ryoko and Kousuke eyed him with a sense of anger in their expressions. "If she protects us, we protect her in return."  
"Why should we?!" Kousuke blurted all of a sudden. Rutherford turned his vision to a very surly Kousuke. "She could be with the Hunters for all we know! She could even be a double-agent of you-know-who to come mess with our heads."  
"I am not any of those things." Shade remarked. She went through what Kousuke said: You-know-who. Who exactly was you-know-who? What could Kousuke possibly mean? Or rather, who was he talking about?  
"And how do we know that we can trust you?" Ryoko complied. Shade then came off of the wall and showed that her sleeves were empty, the waistband of her skirt was bare, and that nothing was hiding in her socks nor her shoes. She even dumped her school bag in front of them to show that wasn't hiding any poisons, firearms, drugs, pills, bombs, knives, anything that'd make them think she was hiding something. Nothing but papers, pens, and a few textbooks and her wallet fell out of her bag. There was nothing to prove she was dangerous.  
"There's nothing." Shade stated. "I'm clean. You have nothing to pin me on. Even if I was hiding something, how could you be able to prove it was mine to begin with?"  
"What about that gun you took from the Hunter?!" Ryoko demanded, suddenly. Shade gave her a serene look of certainty.  
"I don't know how you knew about that but I left it behind at Rutherford's apartment." she replied honestly. The two stared at her with disbelief. "If I had left it at the crime scene, I would've been caught by the authorities because of my fingerprints and the gun powder on my hands." Shade explained. Rutherford listened quietly with his head tilted downward and his eyes closed. "There's no point to have it with me at the moment." Shade paused. "So, apparently, from how my deal is and went with Rutherford here I can't be put away this easily just by a mere fluke. However," Shade paused again as she paced the room. "I need you to trust me. I am willing to protect this group for whatever reasons Rutherford put me up against, and I'm fine with it." The expression on Ryoko's face didn't have her convinced and Rutherford knew that Shade was not winning any hearts any time soon. This was not going to be as simple as her little gigs at her usual coffee shop. Convincing them was going to be the hardest performance Shade ever came across. "What I'm not fine with," Shade continued as she looked at Kousuke and Ryoko intently. "…is how you see me as a intruder on your territory."  
It was quiet for a bit. Rutherford eyed Shade slightly, then turned his vision to Kousuke. He didn't seem to be convinced either, but it was understandable why they would be. Kousuke didn't care if he was free and would rather go off and kill Little Narumi if he wanted to, but he couldn't because of Kiyotaka's orders. Or what Kousuke calls them, stupid orders. Ryoko couldn't give a damn about Rutherford, even if he died, but their ultimate freedom and for the sake of Ayumu Narumi's confidence was riding on this one thing, and it was Shade. They had to confide in her whether they wanted to or not.  
"But I get it." Shade started again. "You don't want me coming into your circle because, for one thing, you don't know a thing about me and I don't anything about you two. We don't know if the other is good or bad, whose on who's side and whatnot. It's just the pure fact that we're just total strangers. The second thing is that you're very serious about keeping your identities and motives quiet. I can do that for all of you very easily. And finally," Shade took another breath in. "You're afraid to be found." Ryoko finally came up to Shade and raised up her hand. Rutherford quickly came in and took a shot.  
WHAP!  
Of all the things Shade was ready for… this was definitely not one of them. She had become completely frozen. Ryoko had just came to slap her and she was ready for it, but Rutherford came in to take the attack instead. What was he thinking? In fact, what was he trying to prove?  
The room fell drastically silent.  
"…Pathetic." Rutherford said as the icy words shot into Ryoko chest. Her heart plummeted to her stomach, but she showed no fear. Not to him, not in front of him… Nothing. Rutherford walked and sat back down on the suede couch. Shade eyed Ryoko. Shade reached out her arm to try comfort her for whatever reason, but the brown-haired beauty violently pushed her arm away from her, as if she didn't want Shade to touch her at all.  
"How the hell can someone like you understand…?" Ryoko growled. Shade blinked. Here we go… "How can a total stranger possibly understand the kind of lives we have to lead?" Ryoko lifted her head to reveal drips of tears in her blood-coloured eyes. "How can anyone understand?" Ryoko's voice escalated. "HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY BE AWARE OF THE KIND OF SHIT WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH?!"  
"Ryoko-" Kousuke got out of his bed and tried to constrain Ryoko to stay calm.  
"SHUT UP!" Ryoko shouted as he pushed Kousuke away. Rutherford sighed. I knew it, was all Rutherford thought. It just couldn't get worse could it?  
"Ryoko, calm down for a bit." He stood to help Kousuke calm Ryoko down a bit. "You're going to injure our patient even more at this rate. There's no point in getting angry." He laid his hand on her shoulder and Ryoko turned to snap her wrist at Rutherford's face again. He staggered a bit, unlike before.  
"Don't you dare lay your hands on me again…" Ryoko growled. Kousuke came to her and Rutherford did too. Shade stepped in before any more damage was done. She stood in front of Ryoko, about nose-to-nose, and extended her arms out to Rutherford and Kousuke.  
"Don't come any closer." Shade ordered lightly. "If any oil and gas is thrown into this fire, we could all burn up in flames." She glanced at Ryoko, dead in the eyes. "If you want to fight or even shout things at me, then you have to face me head on instead of taking it out on your accomplices." Shade stated. Ryoko's expression was sour and vicious, but Shade has been through more cat fights than she could count. This was no different to her. "Let's try to get to know each other better if you don't trust me so much." Ryoko shot a look of deep resentment. She learned a lot of tricks from Rutherford in just a short amount of time. Talking to her made it seem like she was instantly a hot-shot. Almost like it was like dealing with a clone of Rutherford and Little Narumi put together. "You know… you're right, Señorita Takamachi." Shade suddenly stated. "I don't know what kind of things go on in your lives. I don't know how this circle functions. I don't know what kind of things you're hiding from me, and I definitely don't know everyone in the group by any personal stretch." Shade backed away from Ryoko a bit. "But I'm willing to learn. If there's anything in general, you can trust me to keep whatever secrets here. I will not tell a soul about anything. I swear on my papa's grave." Kousuke and Ryoko looked at each other. They seemed hesitant. Shade sighed. "Listen… All I want to do is find Kiyotaka so he can tell me who killed my papa and put the AB-5 to rest for good. And if doing this ordeal is going to get me that justice… then so be it. I'll do anything! So please…" Shade caught herself sounding desperate. Rutherford must've been loving this if Shade was willing to go this far just to prove her loyalty and innocence.  
"We'll think about-"  
"Deal." Ryoko interrupted Kousuke, as he was left stunned.  
"What?!"  
"But only because you saved Kousuke." she said. "Think of it as a payment of our gratitude." Shade looked at her and bowed as she smiled.  
"Gracias. Mucho, mucho gracias to you." Shade thanked. "This circle… it's like a family isn't it?" Everyone stopped. Even Rutherford looked at her, concerned. "I will try my best and protect you all from these 'Hunters'. I will not let anyone from this family to be taken away, because I know how painful it is… You won't be sorry."

After that, Rutherford explained how this was going to work out. Since it was convenient that Ryoko, Kousuke, Shade and Little Narumi with Yuizaki go to the same school, it won't be too hard to keep an eye on everyone. Shade hangs around Little Narumi and Yuizaki which Ryoko and Kousuke were against because of their trust issues, but Shade, yet again reassured that she will not and did not tell Ayumu or Hiyono about anything, and that they were just helping Shade with the AB-5. Kousuke and Ryoko were still not convinced, but were able to let Shade's hanging around Ayumu and Hiyono pass.  
The matter of Shade defending them itself was an issue seeing as Ryoko and Kousuke both didn't see themselves as helpless kids who needed baby sitting by a 15-year-old, two years their junior. To them, it seemed very silly and basically, uncool and unfair.  
Shade knew from the beginning that this was going to be a problem.  
"This is what we agreed on, Kousuke." Rutherford said.  
"I never agreed to anything." Kousuke snapped. "There's not a chance in hell that I'll let her help us be protected if she's with Little Narumi!"  
"Señor Asazuki…" Shade stepped in as Kousuke shot a glare at her. "I would like to acknowledge your very wishy-washy attitude to this conversation." Kousuke looked like he was ready to deck Shade across the face if she said anything else.  
"What did you say?" he growled lowly.  
"Think about it. At one moment you were fine with it, the next you're not. Even though you seem like you don't give a flying rat's ass about this ordeal, you seem to become more concerned for what's in it for you… however, at the same time you seem to have a deep wishful thinking of salvation." Kousuke's face flushed red. He wasn't impressed with this kind of talk from a junior. What the hell was she talking about? What salvation? He couldn't be saved. Even if he was, he didn't give a damn about it all. Kousuke scoffed.  
"…You're more concerned for Señorita Takamachi, am I correct?" Shade concluded. " As long as she's not in danger, you think it's ok for you to die in her place if any." Kousuke ultimately snapped and lunged for Shade's throat and pulled out a pocket knife. Rutherford stood quickly. "You better watch your mouth if you wanna live, Señorita." Kousuke threatened. "Any more of that crap and it's adios for you."  
"Then do it." Shade challenged. Kousuke was taken back. Not too many of his victims actually encouraged him to finish the deed. So why would she?  
"You do realize I have a knife to your throat don't you?" he asked. "Aren't you scared?"  
"I've had a gun pointed at my head and my face, and I've been held like this before already. Russian Roulette and deadly games of random chance is much scarier than this. It's not anything new." Shade bluffed, sounding confident and cocky. In reality, she was quivering. Shade was scared witless. If she had a choice, she'd definitely let Kousuke kill her so that the fear will end.  
Something about Kousuke seemed a lot more menacing than Rutherford. It was as if he'd done this before, several times. More times than Rutherford could count. What made Shade even more terrified was that he seemed to have a gleam in his eyes of pure evil. Shade knew that if he killed her, he was going to enjoy every second of it, no matter how much pain she would feel. To her, she was staring into the eyes of death himself standing at the ebony gates.  
"You are either very brave, very stupid, or you have a death wish." Kousuke growled again. Shade swallowed.  
"Better to have a death wish than no wish at all. No hope…" Shade commented. She could feel the cold blade slide closer to her jugular. The more time passed on, the more agitated and shaken Shade was getting. It's like she was being hypnotized by his greenish-golden eyes.  
"So what will it be?" Kousuke asked. "Your throat, or your wrists?"  
"Whatever you choose is fine." Shade stated. "Because I know you won't do neither." Kousuke stopped and stared into her eyes. "You see, you've given me the choice of throat or wrist, but in reality, you were planning to stab me somewhere else, the heart or my stomach for instance. It would be much faster, however the stomach would take a while unless you want to become the new Jack the Ripper and completely empty my bowels." Shade cracked a smile. "But that wouldn't be a choice either because of the cleanup and the obvious blood marks you'd leave behind. You'd probably have to douse your hands in some sort of sanitizer or oil to get the residue of blood off of you." Kousuke listened carefully as she went on. This girl was seriously pushing his buttons, and not in the correct order. She's testing her luck.  
"However, these are very silly deductions of mine. You seem like the kind of person who has done this for a very long time, and you even seem very professional, quick, and clean about it. Well, I guess you'd only be clean about it if you really wanted to. Then again, I probably can't tell the clean part by just watching."  
"And you're point?" He shoved the knife as the blade was touching the root of her jugular.  
"If you really come down to the point, you're asking me, life or death? The answer would be obvious to most people, but me, I prefer death. The reason why? Well… if I die, I can see my Papa and I won't have to feel any pain at all. I wouldn't have to ever feel pain again. Sure that'd be great." Shade continued. "But if I choose life because I can still find out who killed Papa and also get some more answers." Shade gazed deeper into Kousuke's eyes, boldly. "I want to find out more about you, Señor Asazuki and you too Señorita Takamachi. And… as much as I hate to admit it, you too Rutherford. I may not belong in this place of yours, but if you're willing to welcome me, then I appreciate it." She gave a friendly smile. "If not, then that's ok too. By the way, I think your eyes are very pretty. I wish I had an eye colour that cool." She paused and giggled a bit, but stopped because the knife was still hugging her neck. She could feel the blade move in unison with her esophagus. "They're so cat-like. I really like them. Were you born with eyes like that?"  
Kousuke growled and shot another glare at Shade but the fact that she was smiling at the face of death was beginning to make Kousuke feel awkward and evil. At least, more evil than he usually is. There were boundaries of that kind of power and there was no way Kousuke was going to resort to being that low that quickly. He pulled away from Shade and put the knife away.  
"You got lucky that time, just remember that ok?" he huffed. He looked at Rutherford who calmly gathered the material of his coat around his elbows, as if he were to put it back on. "If you weren't a cute girl, you'd be dead meat. I'm in this ordeal. But only because she… saved me." He lulled his head. He seemed ashamed, like his pride was being ripped away. Shade bowed.  
"Mucho gracias to you Señor Asazuki."  
"Whatever." He snarled, his face becoming hot and rubicund as his hair. Shade giggled. "How can you laugh?! I could've killed you!" Kousuke shouted.  
"But you didn't." Shade pointed out. "That means you must have just a little bit of good in you. A person like you can only be so evil that it becomes too much work, like a routine."  
"Shut up." Kousuke snapped. Shade laughed more. "What's so funny?"  
"The way you talk. I can tell you don't really mean it."  
"How the hell can you tell these things?! Leave me alone!" He shouted.  
"By the way, that knife you had was dull wasn't it?" Shade brought out. Kousuke stared at her, stunned. "Pocket knives are usually sharper than that depending what kind of model of knife it is. Yours was just a normal pocket knife and nothing fancy like a hunter's knife or a camping knife. It's too dull to be any of those two." Ryoko stared at Shade. Ryoko didn't even know that the knife was dull. From far away it seemed pretty sharp. Shade continued, "A normal pocket knife isn't too sharp but it's still sharp enough to cut through flesh, but not very deep. You still could've killed me by slicing my throat, but you didn't. Why is that?" She questioned. Kousuke flushed red again.  
"I wasn't going to kill you. I was just testing how you'd react."  
"Mm-hmm. Sure." Shade replied sarcastically.  
"I mean it! Now get out!" He turned his head away towards the window.

After a while Ryoko, Kousuke, and Shade, though the rough start of the wrong foot, somehow got used to one another but were still a bit wary about her. Her and Rutherford bid farewell and wished Kousuke a fast recovery.  
As Rutherford and Shade stepped out of Kousuke's room, Shade fell to the floor on her knees.  
"Thank God!" She groaned and shook. "I've never bluffed so much and said so many bold things in my life. I thought for sure that he was gonna kill me!" She breathed out.  
"So it was an act to buy time?"  
"Sort of…" Shade sighed, relieved. "I'm just happy to still be alive. He scares the living shit out of me." Rutherford looked at her.  
"Better swallow that fear soon then."  
"Yeah…"  
As the two were heading out, they suddenly ran into a new sort of trouble: It was Ayumu and Hiyono at that same hospital. They saw Shade with Rutherford and they saw the two of them. This was bad.


	16. Chapter 15

15  
Jekyll and Hyde

Shade has never sprinted and ran so fast in her life when she saw Ayumu and Hiyono there. She quickly hid in a random patient room, luckily it was vacant. She was surprised that no one followed her. Shade wasn't exactly thinking straight so she figured she'd just hide until no one was there. It'd work out like that right?

"Who was that?" Ayumu asked Rutherford. He stayed composed as usual and just blankly stared back at him.  
"I don't know. Probably a fan or someone like that…" he brushed his hair back.  
"Why was she with you?" Ayumu questioned again. She looked a little like their Hispanic friend, plus she had the school uniform on.  
"Who knows? I'd rather not be involved much with my personal business." He turned back to look at Ayumu. "Just know that Kousuke will not answer anything else on the AB-5."  
"Then how about you tell else something about it, then Mr. Icy-Cold? We're busting our rears to get this! This is a major scoop and I'm not going to lose it!" Hiyono huffed. Ayumu just sighed of embarrassment. Hiyono just didn't know how to hold her tongue during these times. Rutherford just glanced at Hiyono then turned his head elsewhere.  
"I know nothing. No one would care about a case that's been closed for over two years." Rutherford knew for a fact that Shade was looking for more information on the AB-5, but he had to try and keep himself hidden.  
"That can't be true!" Hiyono exclaimed.  
"Alright, then tell me this. Did my brother order someone to assassinate a girl known as Shade Katsura?" Ayumu stepped closer. Rutherford shot a slight glare at him. It turns out that before the ordeal, Shade had went and told them about the entire Russian Roulette incident. What an untrustworthy blabbermouth.  
"I don't recall there being an order." he lied.  
"So you picked out Katsura-san just to try and kill her for your own sick entertainment?" Rutherford looked straight at Ayumu and gave an evil grin.  
"Maybe I did." He continued to beat around the bush. Little Narumi was still being tested as they spoke, and Ayumu knew he was just playing into his own brother's demise. "My business with that girl is for me to know and for you to find out, just like the secrets the Blade Children have. The only difference, is that we have yet to know more about ourselves as well." He finished. The boys exchanged glances and glares until Rutherford turned and marched off with both his hands on his trench coat pockets. He knew that Shade ran off somewhere. He had to find her so he could remind her not to speak of their business together to Little Ayumu's reporter friend. It was no doubt that Rutherford still had his skills of secrecy. He found it amusing to try and make others think like that.

"What. A. JERK!" Hiyono pouted. "He didn't even have anything! I mean, what a complete-"  
"He was trying to buy time." Ayumu stated suddenly. Hiyono sharply turned to her towards Ayumu. He was starting to get his brilliant mind going. "His accomplice there beside him ran off as soon as that person saw us. She looked a lot like Katsura-san, so I don't know if there's a connection between the two, but yet I feel that there is."  
"I don't know, Ayumu." Hiyono doubted. "I don't think Katsura-san would sink this low. I mean, she said so herself that she hated the guy because of what he did. She would have no other reason to even be with him in the first place." They both paced down the hallway towards Kousuke's room.  
"But you did say that she was heading off to see him later, right?" Ayumu asked. Hiyono bit her lip. The phone conversation they had was solid proof that Shade could be slipping to the darker side of life from where she currently was. The fact that she recorded the whole thing too was something that Shade was not aware of and it made her feel guilty, but Ayumu had every reason to be suspicious because of it.  
"Yes… But I still don't know why she would." She admitted. "Shade herself absolutely hates the guy, so I still don't know the true reason why. I would've asked but at the same time I was kind of afraid to…" Ayumu turned to see Hiyono's expression worried and venerable. He could tell that Shade's involvement could lead to something much more dangerous for her, and Hiyono made friends with her very quickly so he couldn't blame her for being the way she was. Ayumu sighed as he stopped walking and turned to pat Hiyono's head. She looked at Ayumu with hope, to see a priceless smile on his face.  
"The melody of logic always plays the notes of truth." The sweet sound of that quote alone made Hiyono instantly feel better. From the look of it, it seemed that Ayumu was getting to be more confident helping Shade, and even though they've hit dead-end to dead-end, Hiyono wasn't going to give up. She nodded, but noticed that Ayumu was feeling her head. "Your hair's softer than usual."  
"E-Eh?!" She gasped.  
"Why the sudden change?" He wondered.  
"Well excuse me, but unlike you I like to keep my hair clean and oil-free!"  
"Ouch."  
"Hmph!" Hiyono jerked her head away from Ayumu. "I want an apology!"  
"No." Ayumu sighed again. It seemed she was back to normal. Or at least, as normal as she could be.  
"Fine!"  
"C'mon," he insisted as she looked back at him. "We need to find more about Kikyo Ishida and possibly ask about Katsura-san. Also," Ayumu continued. "We should follow Madoka a little later. Say about 8-ish tonight."  
"Your step-sister? But why?" Hiyono asked. Ayumu kept his eyes forward and his posture steady.  
"I have a feeling something big just went down."

Shade waited for a long time before she could tell for sure that Ayumu and Hiyono's voices have faded away. She checked carefully and saw that they were quite a ways down the hall. It would be too dangerous to go out of the room she was hiding out in and just walk out the front door. It would seem too suspicious to anyone else there in the hospital and in case Ayumu or Hiyono decided to turn back and check their backs. The window seemed to be the only way out. Shade slid the panel to the side and jumped out, slowly and carefully sliding it back like a ninja. She leaned against the wall of the building and slid down with a breath of relief. She just hoped now that they didn't recognize her.  
"You really are a bother." stated a familiar British accent with a shadow looming over her.  
"Aah!" Shade jumped and nearly punched Rutherford in the gut. She stopped herself once she knew who it was. "Oh… You."  
"That sounded slightly rude." He helped her up as Shade began to brush the dirt off her skirt. "You told that Yuizaki girl everything about the incident that we had, didn't you?'  
"Yeah, I did. So what?" she snapped sharply. Rutherford instantly shot a cold glare at her. "That was before the fact that you decided to make a little ordeal with me so you could keep my mouth shut."  
"Because of that we could already be in jeopardy." he explained. "It could strain your reputation and it could also put us in danger of being found out."  
"What's so bad if Señor Narumi and Señorita Yuizaki already know? I don't see how it could be such a huge deal."  
"You imbecile! Don't you know that our survival is at stake because of this ordeal I had to make with you?" He snapped back. "It was all because I ended up incompleting my mission to kill you off. Furthermore, because they have the knowledge of us it throws off the entire ordeal. Now they could be on your case because of your involvement with us and it could mean trouble if you know what is good for you." He explained more. They began walking towards the front of the hospital where a black limousine was parked. "Are we clear on our agreement here?"  
Well considering that you don't look too happy I don't have a choice but understand why… Shade thought. "Yes. Understood, Rutherford." A chauffer came out and opened the door for Rutherford but he let Shade walk in first. She was surprised at first, but she figured it was just good manners. Even the chauffer looked shocked. "Sir, that was very thoughtful of you!"  
"I'm not exactly in the greatest mood to be perfectly honest." he stepped into the vehicle, fastened his seatbelt and just crossed his arms and legs as the chauffer closed the door and took over the driver's spot. "Just take us back to the penthouse." He sighed. He sounded exhausted. Must be all he went through with Shade's first murder. Personally, Shade was tired as well.

They drove off back to the penthouse where they took the elevator back to his place. While riding, Shade looked over to see Rutherford rubbing his eyes. Guess dealing with Kousuke and Ryoko was a pain to him. Not that Shade could relate at all. She didn't know much about Kousuke or Ryoko the way he did. Maybe they were just like that because of the ordeal, and the fact that they both don't know Shade at all either. It sounded like they wouldn't really want to. The silence seemed awkward, almost like they should talk about at least something but what?

"Rutherford…" Shade started.  
"What now?" he answered, slightly annoyed.  
"I… I don't know what I can do for now. Or rather what I should do."  
"Just keep going like how you usually do." Rutherford replied in an airy tone. He was very tired. It must've been a long day for the guy. I guess even celebrities can get exhausted. "Go to your… performances, go to school, find more about the AB-5, whatever. Just do something to get your mind off of it."  
"…Odd." Shade peered over to him with a smirk. "You didn't mention that I should protect Señor Asazuki or Señorita Ryoko." Rutherford sharply looks at her and groaned.  
"You know, I am this close," he measured a small amount with his fingers. "This close to killing you."  
'If you are then why don't you finish me off now?" she snapped.  
"If I wanted to, don't you think I would have already?!"  
"Gee, you're extremely touchy when you're pissed aren't ya?" Shade commented.  
"Ooh, if I had your gun right now… I'd-"  
"You'd what? Shoot me? Go ahead. I won't care." she challenged.  
"Do NOT start with me." This was starting to get very aggravating.  
"Oh, I'm sorry," Shade snarled. "But last time I checked, you started with me trying to shove poison down my throat, pulling a knife against my throat, and then getting me to shoot myself in the head with a bullet that was fake!"  
"How dare you!" he nearly lunged at her.  
"Oh I dare. Can't you tell?" Shade did nothing but cross her arms. She couldn't tell this guy apart from a thirteen-year-old going through puberty because it seemed like to her, he was going through mood swings so touchy that he might as well be a girl. This guy was officially confusing to her.  
Right at that moment after Shade put her two cents in, Rutherford snatched her throat but before he could do anything else, there was a loud screeching noise and the whole elevator stopped completely and shook while doing so. The two stumbled around in that tiny box that Shade lost her balance and fell into Rutherford's arms. Due to Shade falling into him, he stumbled backward to the wall where his lower back smashed into the railing alongside them.  
Shade looked up at Rutherford as she realized that one of her arms was around his neck and the other was clenching the railing behind him. Rutherford's right arm was hanging onto the railing and his right hand was just below her neck, on her chest. He could feel her heartbeat escalating. Shade stepped away from him slowly, but the more she walked backward, she walked into the wall without realizing.  
Now, the two of them were stuck with each other in a closed small space with a decreasing amount of oxygen. Lovely. 


	17. Chapter 16

16  
Red Hands

"Well this is just great." Rutherford sighed again. Shade looked at him sentimentally, although it was hard to since what just happened made Shade feel like she could just curl up and hide somewhere. She could feel the blood rush to her face and heat up just thinking of it. But she had to try ignore it.  
"W-Well… Look on the bright side. At least you're not stuck with Kousuke or Ryoko." She smiled.  
"Point taken." he decided to sit down. "Well it's only about a while before all the air is drained away from us."  
"True… We might be here for a while." she stated. "But! Until then, we could do something to pass the time."  
"Like what?" Rutherford raised an eyebrow. What in the world was this girl up to now? Tick-Tack-Toe?  
"Red hands!" she raised both her hands in the air and waved them like a child. She then slid closer to Rutherford.  
"Red hands?" This seemed odd. Her hands weren't red at all. It was more so her face, even though he had no idea why.  
"Mm-hmm! Wanna play?"  
"It's a game?"  
"What? You've never heard of red hands?" Shade laid her hands out together with her palms facing downward.  
"I didn't even know what you were talking about until you asked me if I want to play." Rutherford blinked.  
"Really? What kind of childhood did you have?" Shade questioned rudely.  
"That's none of your business." He coldly replied.  
"Anyway," Shade continued. "The rules are simple. The goal is just to slap the other player's hands. Put your hands like mine, only palms facing up." Rutherford was confused but did so anyway. "Now put them under mine, but make sure they're not touching." So Rutherford did so without question. "Now try to see if you can slap the back of my hands. You gotta be fast."  
Rutherford looked closely the way his hands were positioned, then pulled them towards him and quickly swatted at Shade's hands. But right before he hit her, she pulled both of her hands away.  
"You pulled them away."  
"That's the whole point." She laughed. "You see, whoever's hands are at the bottom, they are the slapper. The one with their hands hovering over the slapper's hands is the slappee. The slapee has to avoid being slapped by the slapper. But the slappee has to have good timing and pull them away right before the slapper's hands hit yours. If you pull them before or during the slap, the roles are switched." She explained. "So say that happened. Then I would be the slapper." Shade positioned both her hands under his. "I can also psych out the slappee as long as my hands don't go over the overlap. Like this." She demonstrated her hands shifting towards her. Rutherford instantly jerked his hands backwards as they left the overlap. "Now that your hands left the overlap, I can get a free slap at your hands. But if I slapped your hands after they left the overlap, then you get a free slap at my hands. Then the roles switch. The same goes if the slapper misses to hit the slappee. Does that all make sense?" Shade concluded.  
"Sounds simple enough." Rutherford replied. This game seemed a little interesting. Not that Rutherford was into childish games like this.  
"Ok! Let's go! Who's going to be the slapper then?"  
"I will." He volunteered.  
"Alright, English boy. Show me what ya got!" She perked up. The two had both their hands in position of the overlap. Rutherford thought strategically how he was going to do this. If he had to be fast then he'd have to think that he'll have to psych her out in order to get her mixed up. It was the only way, really. It was a children's game after all. It couldn't be that hard.  
Rutherford slightly jerked his hands towards him. Shade twitched a little, but her hands didn't move. He waited and tried it again. Same thing. As long as his hands didn't leave the overlap he was fine, but Shade was not in slightest bit nervous. So Rutherford went in for the slap. Shade's hands stayed steady as can be, then suddenly jerked backward enough for Rutherford to miss by just a hair.  
"Nice try. But I'm afraid you're messing with the master here. But don't worry, I'll go easy on ya." Shade giggled. So she positioned her hands underneath Rutherford's. Shade suddenly slapped Rutherford's hands and did it so quickly that Rutherford couldn't jerk back. "Oops. Sorry. Force of habit." Shade smiled.  
"Liar." Rutherford replied with a straight face. This time, Rutherford did what Shade did and was able to get her fingers.  
"Ooh, close." Shade laughed.  
"Ah." He groaned. "Free hit?"  
"Hmm? Oh yeah." So Rutherford switched positions as Shade freely slapped the both of his hands. "See why this is called red hands now?"  
"Yes, indeed. Almost like a strategy game."  
"Sort of. It's more of a 'let's see how fast can you slap my hands before I jerk them back' thing." Shade commented. She psyched out Rutherford about three times before actually slapping his hands, but this time he jerked them back perfectly. She missed. "Hunh… You learn pretty quickly." Rutherford smirked.  
"It's a simple game. Learning quickly is just a trait that all of us in the circle have." He explained as they played. "I can see why you enjoy this."  
"Really? How so?"  
"Because you keep beating me." He said almost jokingly. (Yeah, jokingly. This scared Shade too.) Shade laughed.  
"I told you I was a master."

After about ten minutes, both Rutherford and Shade literally had red hands. They've been playing all that time and the slaps just kept getting harder and harder. Mostly because Shade wanted to up the force a bit. She regretted it later.  
"Ow… Man, you slap hard!" Shade complained.  
"Your fault, not my problem." He stated, blowing on both of his hands to cool them down.  
"I didn't know you can get aggressive when you're competitive." She sighed.  
"Says the person who started slapping me harder than usual because she felt like it." Rutherford said sarcastically.  
"Hey, you started slapping harder too!"  
"Only because you started it." He continued to blow on his hands.  
"Man…!" Shade laid herself back and she combed her hair with her fingers. The room was about ten by ten feet, so there was enough room for both of them. "I am tired! Man… I could sleep right now." Rutherford looked over at her relaxation and stared.  
"Why don't you?" He asked. "We won't know how long we have until the elevator's running again. You might as well…"  
"Nah… I'll be too lazy to get back up if I do." She groaned. "God, what a day…" She closed her eyes. Rutherford sat there for a while but loomed over her after a while as she turned to her side. She seemed like she was going to sleep. If not, she probably was asleep already.  
"Katsura." he whispered. She didn't answer right away. He shook her a little. "Katsura. Wake up."  
"Hmm?" She mumbled and yawned.  
"You just said you didn't want to sleep."  
"Can't help it…" Shade stretched her arms. "I have no idea what time it is, but whatever time it is, this would be around the time where I'd-" She turned and saw him leaning over her. In that moment, she instantly froze and eyeballed at him dead in the eyes. Her face burned up like wildfire, like the steam was shooting out her ears and nostrils before she knew it.  
"You'd… what?"  
"U-Uh… Um…!" She couldn't take it anymore. Instinct kicked in.  
SMACK!  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINKING YOU'RE DOING?!" She howled and shoved him violently away from her. "Ugh! Of all the things that I could think of I would have never thought you'd sink that low!" She brushed herself off, trying to make it seem like she was covered in dust or something.  
You've GOT to be kidding me! Rutherford thought as he rolled his eyes and sighed in utter vexation. He maintained his anger and stayed cool and calm. "It wasn't what you thought." He replied blandly as he covered his left cheek as is turned redder and redder.  
"Oh yeah right! Like I'm supposed to believe that!" She scoffed. "Argh! Honestamente! Nunca me he sentido tan violada en mi vida!"  
Oh great… "Now you're going to speak in Spanish because I can't understand it?" He asked rudely.  
"Exactamente. Porque eres la peor persona que he conocido!" she snapped back. "Y sin embargo, quieres que te respeten? Estúpido. Hmph!" She crossed her arms and legs and turned her head away from him.  
It was quiet for a while after that. Rutherford knew that explaining wouldn't get him anywhere. She just might end up swearing in Spanish for all he knew. But it still never hurt to try. What's he got to lose?  
"Katsura, are you willing to listen to me?"  
"No." she replied. Then suddenly realized something.  
"Listen, it wasn't what you thought. I was just merely-"  
"Te me llamado Katsura…" She interrupted.  
"Excuse me?" Rutherford asked again, being highly annoyed.  
"You called me Katsura…" She looked at him in complete shock. Rutherford shot her a look of incompetence. He didn't see it as a big deal, but Shade, this was groundbreaking for her. "Y-You…"  
"And what exactly is your point?" He questioned her as his crystal-coloured eyes stared at her.  
"I mean… That's the first time you ever called me by my name…" She cracked a slight smile and she seemed as if she had forgotten what she was mad about. Shade chuckled, "Heheh, I guess I'm just kind of… shocked a little. And well…" She paused a little, soon before giggling like a little girl. "For some reason, it makes me feel special. They way you say it anyway."  
Rutherford blinked and raised an eyebrow. By this point, he gave up even trying to understand her. But whatever… No point trying now. He yawned and slumped backward with his arms behind his head. His legs were crossed and stretched outward. It seem evident that he could not wait to get ready for a nice hot bath and then going to sleep in his luxury, king-sized bed. The thought just made him relax much more, but the fact that they were stuck wasn't helping. He just decided to keep quiet and salvage all the oxygen he could.  
Shade twirled her hair a little. She couldn't shake off this feeling that even though Rutherford, a person she couldn't stand for the life of her, remembered her name. For whatever reason, it made her feel warm, fuzzy, and special. These kinds of feelings were so new to her. What is causing this? How come did her chest begin to burn and sting with the feeling that she was scorching on the inside? None of it made sense. That funny feeling at the pit of her stomach, her heartbeat escalating, the blood in her rushing like a current and heating her face up… What did this all mean? Then Shade remembered that Rutherford was that close to her before. It was yesterday when he was explaining the ordeal to her and he came to her on the couch and leaned over her. His face was so close to hers that she nearly burst with a mixture of anger, happiness, and fluttering affection. Thinking back, it felt exactly the same… only this time, Shade didn't want anything to do with him… Now she couldn't stop thinking about Rutherford. This wasn't good.

There was a rattling shift that caught both their attention. The elevator was going again. They heard the mechanism going as they heard the whirring of the machinery. The two of them stood up and watched the screen as the numbers climbed up.  
Ding!  
There they were, on Rutherford's floor. The doors opened as they both stepped out and walked down the hall.  
"Well…" Shade started. Rutherford gazed down at her. "That was interesting…"  
"If you really think so." He sighed. They got to his apartment as Rutherford opened the door and let Shade in. They both were happy that it was all over. Being together in a room that long was suffocating enough, at least, for Rutherford anyway. Shade didn't mind it. Who knows? Maybe it was another test from Kiyotaka, just to see how she would react to everything.

Rutherford came behind Shade and whispered in her ear, "Hey, Katsura." Shade instantly shivered up and turned as she backed away from him.  
"You creep! What the heck are you trying to pull?!" She glared and rubbed her ear. Feeling Rutherford's breath on her skin made everything in any situation with him uncomfortable.  
"Just making sure you're on your guard." Rutherford smirked. Her reactions to simple, petty things like this amused him. She scoffed and sat back down on the couch and retrieved the gun she had taken. It seemed like it was so long ago that she had committed her first crime. How she murdered a Hunter in cold blood… It all was going to be a pain to deal with. How she was going to deal with it all? She didn't know yet.  
"You know…" Rutherford sat on his piano stool, close by the couch Shade was lounging on. His next few words made Shade get up and grab the nearest blunt object she could and strike him with. "It may be best if you stay the night."


	18. Chapter 17

17  
Bodyguard

A porcelain vase in her hands, not caring how much it was worth, she swung it at Rutherford's head. But like she suspected, he caught it effortlessly. He tilted his head.  
"I would appreciate it if you didn't break anything. Especially not my skull." He said bluntly, not caring about Shade's anger.  
"You sick freak! What kind of a boy are you?! I have barely known you for a week and you already want to-"  
"You really are strange." Rutherford interrupted. "What on earth makes you think I would do such a thing in the first place? Let alone a commoner such as yourself." Shade grabbed her gun and pointed it at Rutherford.  
"Don't even try… I'll do it. And I won't give a damn what happens to me afterward." She threatened. Now this was just plain pointless.  
"Your gun is not even loaded, smart one. And where do you think you can get bullets for it if you can't even supply them at this very moment?" Rutherford didn't need a gun to shoot Shade down. He just needed his mouth. Shade growled and slumped back on the couch.  
"Argh! Why in the world should I?" She demanded. "Like sure, a nice bed with celebrity treatment in a penthouse? That's the life right there, but I don't see why I should. Is this some sort of sick trick of yours?"  
"I have no other sick tricks to my nature nor my stature. But rather I am considering your safety." He replied. Shade totally forgot. Since she saved Kousuke and Ryoko, they had to pay her back by protecting her. But why was Rutherford trying to protect her instead? Were they all going to be apart of the ordeal? She figured that it would make sense because they were such a tight group. "It will only be for tonight." Rutherford continued. Shade was caught off-guard as she perked up, assertively. "We cannot guarantee if the Hunters are after you or not. But if they are we can't be too careful and too carefree about it. They will stop at nothing to kill you now that they know that you're someone who won't go down without a fight. They will try to track you down, and for that, you cannot risk walking home alone." He concluded.  
Shade suddenly felt concerned. Not just for herself, but for this circle that Rutherford got herself into. The amount of pressure suddenly just quadrupled to a thousand, and there was no way that Shade had that kind of strength and perception to watch over five people let along herself. How was she going to-  
"I can see you're worried." Rutherford noticed. Shade jumped, startled. He calmly paced to her and lightly stroked her front bangs. Shade tried her hardest to stay perfectly still. She was shaking from the anxiety that she wasn't sure how to contain herself. It was little things like this that scared and excited her the most. "I wouldn't if I were you. I would only focus on the AB-5 and how you will only need to constantly be on your guard. You can trust no one now. It's too late to turn back." This, Shade knew was true. Maybe Rutherford was right for once. Shade really needed to focus more on the AB-5 and not so much on how to do everything perfect.  
"I-I see…" She answered. Rutherford slightly smiled. He now had her trust. Some of it, anyway. "…Didn't you say you have a mother?" he asked as he moved away from her. "You should call her."  
"Oh crap! That's right! She's probably worried sick about me!" Shade pulled out her cell phone and clicked the speed dial for her house to see if her mother was there. After a few rings there was a voice, "Moshi Moshi?"  
"M-Mom!" Shade exclaimed.  
"Shade? Honey, where have you been?" Her mother sounded concerned. "I tried calling but you never answered. Did you have it off this entire time?!"  
"Uh… Hehe… Well I just didn't want to have interruptions in my performance is all. I'm fine and all, really!"  
"Well I know that, you're my niña. No one messes with my tough cookie!" She remarked. "So where are you?"  
"W-Well… I called you to let you know I'm staying at a friend's place tonight." Shade answered.  
"Hmm? Shade Katsura, you've only been at school for two days and you're already having sleepovers?"  
"Is that a bad thing?" She asked.  
"No, it doesn't bother me, I'm just concerned about where you're staying."  
"You won't have to worry about anything mom." Shade assured. "My friend here has a lovely apartment. I'll be fine. I'll call you in the morning, alright?"  
"Well… alright. Since you're already there, it would be no point for me to get you with no car, or money for a taxi." Her mother sighed.  
"Mom?" Shade blinked. "You sound tired. Is everything ok?"  
"No, it's ok honey. It's just… I'm so tired. I've been looking everywhere and no one is hiring." Shade lowered her phone a little.  
"I'm sorry to hear that…"  
"And you know, I hate replying for you on your well-deserved gig money to help out, but-"  
"N-No! It's ok! I don't mind it! I really don't!" Shade insisted.  
"Ha… Shade… girls like you should be out shopping. With your style and fashion taste, you'll go far. I can see it… I'd rather make it easier for you to live in order for you to accomplish that than to rely on your hard work."  
"…We'll both try hard, ok? Everything will work out for the best!" Shade giggled.  
"Si… it will." Her mother breathed in and slowly exhaled. "Well, have a good time Shade. Don't stay up too late ok?"  
"Yes, mom."  
"Te Amo."  
"Me too, Mama." She smiled.  
"Ok, have a good night, alright?"  
"Yes, I will, Mama. Good night." Shade hung up and suddenly felt a rush of tranquility and calmness throughout her body. Talking with her mother made Shade so calm, almost as if she could feel her love and concern through the phone. Her voice reminded Shade that if she wanted to do this ordeal successfully, she would have to do it not just for her, or for Rutherford and his circle. Shade needed to do this to avenge her father's death and protect her mother as well…

"You two sound close." Rutherford stated. Shade slowly looked at him. "Tell me… what is it like to have that kind of closeness… to have a family?" Shade loosened up and stared at him to see if he was serious. He didn't seem to be joking. Shade carefully thought out her answer.  
"Well… It feels like everything around you doesn't matter. My mom is all I have left… and that makes me feel like everything else is worthwhile. She's all I have… and I can't lose her. I love her too much to even think of what it would be like without her."  
Rutherford just blankly gazed at her as if he was bored. He didn't even seem interested, he was only curious. He sort of regretted it afterwards if her answer was going to be so poetically modest.  
"I see…" he got up and walked a few steps.  
"Rutherford…?" Shade stopped him. He turned his head and looked at her behind his shoulder. "What about… your mother?" she asked. "Don't you care about her the same way?" Shade didn't know that she hit a fairly sensitive topic for Rutherford, but he glared at her and brushed the whole thing off.  
"That is none of your concern." He replied coldly. "She passed away suddenly when I was very young." Shade softly gasped.  
"I… I didn't know."  
"At least you didn't say that you were sorry." Rutherford walked into a room and came back out with a set of nightwear and a towel. "I'm going to take a bath. I'll get something for you to wear later." Then he left.  
Shade couldn't believe it. It made so much sense as to why he was so cold to everyone all the time. Shade suddenly felt so bad and so sorry for him, like she thought the day would never come, but she was feeling a deep remorse that she could feel the tears well up in her eyes. Her chest was feeling heavy with guilt and her heart sank to her stomach. But she couldn't. Not here, not now. She had to remain strong. Besides, there was no way Rutherford was going to get the best of her by seeing her cry.


End file.
